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The Key to the Universe 





MRS. HARRIETTE AUGUSTA CURTISS 
CO-FOUNDER OF 

Gbe ©rDer of Christian flTlpstict 

[ORDER OF THE 1 5] 



The 
Key to the Universe 

or a Spiritual Interpretation of 
Numbers and Symbols 

TRANSMITTED FROM THE TEACHER OF THE O. C. M. 

BY 

HARRIETTE AUGUSTA CURTISS, F. O. 15 
In collaboration with 

F. HOMER CURTISS, B.S., M.D., F.O. 15 
Secretary of The Order of Christian Mystics 

Authors of 

" The Voice of his," "Letters from the Teacher," " The Soundless 
Sound, "''The Philosophy of War, " " Gems of Mysticism, ' ' Etc . 



SECOND EDITION 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE CURTISS PHILOSOPHIC BOOK CO., Inc. 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



LONDON AGENTS 

L. N. FOWLER & CO. 

7 Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus 
London, E. C. 






Second Edition 

Copyright, 1917, by 

THE CURTISS PHILOSOPHIC BOOK CO., Inc. 

PHILADELPHIA, PA, 



JUN 20 1917 

)CU46750"4 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword ix 

Preface xiii 

CHAPTER 

1 The Origin of Numerical Systems 17 

2 The Symbol of the O an< l the Serpent 26 

3 The O as the Egg and the Cat 39 

4 The O as the Aura and the Ring Pass Not. . . 49 

5 The Symbol of the O 55 

6 The Number 1 61 

7 The 1st Hebrew Letter, Aleph 67 

8 The 1st Tarot Card, The Juggler 75 

9 The Number 2 82 

10 The 2nd Hebrew Letter, Beth 90 

11 The 2nd Tarot Card, The High Priestess 97 

12 The Number 3 102 

13 The Number 3 — Continued. . 115 

14 The 3rd Hebrew Letter, Gimel 125 

15 The Number 4 135 

16 The Number A — Continued 148 

17 The 4th Hebrew Letter, Daleth 158 

18 The Number 5 170 

19 The Number 5— Continued 178 

20 The 5th Hebrew Letter, He 186 

21 The Number 6 195 

22 The Number 6 — Continued 204 

23 The 6th Hebrew Letter, Vau 21 1 

24 The Number 7 219 

25 The Number 7 — Gestation 229 

26 The Number 7 — Perfection 236 

27 The Number 7 — Perfection — Continued 244 

28 The 7 Principles of Man. 255 



vi Table of Contents 

29 The 7 Pleiades and the 7 Rishis 267 

30 The 7th Hebrew Letter, Zain 277 

31 The Number 8 285 

32 The Number 8— Continued 293 

33 The 8th Tarot Card, Justice 301 

34 The Number 9 306 

35 The Number 9 — Continued 316 

36 The 9th Hebrew Letter, Teth 327 

37 The Number 10 339 

38 The Number 10— Continued 347 

39 The 10th Hebrew Letter, Yod 356 

40 The Joy of Completion 368 



FOREWORD 

These are days of great unrest in all walks of life. 
Many are running to and fro seeking a firm founda- 
tion on which to erect their Temple of Truth. These 
are the days foretold by the prophet Amos: "Behold, 
the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a 
famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst 
for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." 1 It 
takes but little insight to see in present day conditions 
the literal fulfillment of the prophecy : "For many shall 
come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall de- 
ceive many, * * * Then if any man shall say unto 
you, Lo, here is Christ, or there ; believe it not." 3 
But that we may not be deceived there must be some 
firm foundation on which we can rest assured and 
build. Where shall this be found? This is the ques- 
tion which this volume seeks to answer through the 
interpretation of the spiritual meanings of the un- 
changing symbols handed down to mankind in the only 
exact science, numbers. It does not profess to be the 
1 and only Book of Wisdom, the only true and satisfy- 
ing solution of the world's problems, but it does strive 
to set forth an exposition of the framework on which 
the cosmic philosophy of the ancient Wisdom Religion 
was based (subject to the human limitations of the 
transmitting personalities), together with such inspi- 
rational Light as has been vouchsafed to the authors, 
who make no claim to aught save the office of trans- 
mitters and distributors of the spiritual food especially 
stored and preserved in the storehouse of the King, in 
readiness for this time of famine. 

Today many are striving to appease this Soul-hun- 
ger. Many well-intentioned teachers who have had a 

1 Amos, viii, 11. a St. Matthew, xxiv, 5-23. 



x Foreword 

realization of a phase of Truth strive to fill the need, 
but because they have not a cosmic and all-inclusive 
philosophy, they can give but a few crumbs to an hun- 
gry 1 here and there, while the great mass — those who 
are not content to take any single phase of Truth — 
still seek, hungering, starving or feeding on the husks 
of materialistic conceptions. Others, in an effort to 
be less personal, are telling the hungry ones to cease 
seeking for help from teachers and look only to the 
Within. In fact, we have in our hands a little circular 
which voices, in the following words, the note of almost 
universal despair and disappointment with teachers: 
"To you, who thought you had found in some great 
teacher, who was perhaps the acknowledged head of 
some Society, Fraternity or Religion, and who ap- 
peared to you to be a 'Master,' so marvelous was the 
wisdom he taught and the works he performed ; only 
to awaken later to the realization that that 'Master' 
was but a human personality, with faults and weak- 
nesses, and secret sins, the same as you, even tho' that 
personality may have been a channel thru which was 
voiced many beautiful teachings, which seemed to you 
the highest 'Truth.' * * * To yon, I AM come. 
* * * For I AM your real Teacher, * * * and 
the only MASTER." 

This idea that all wisdom, comfort and help can be 
found within is but a further fulfillment of the proph- 
ecy as given in St. Matthew (xxiv, 26) : "Wherefore 
if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert 
[of mere intellectual learning] ; go not forth : behold, 
he is in the secret chambers [the Within] ; believe it 
not." Here we find the 2 opposite poles of teaching, 
as common in the days of the Apostles as today, antici- 
pated and provided for. Where then shall we find rest, 
peace and spiritual food? 



Foreword xi 

Dear Reader, long ere the famine was sent into the 
land the preparation for it was made. Joseph was sent 
into the darkness of Egypt to prepare for the 7 years 
of famine by gathering up the over-plus of corn and 
wine during the 7 years of plenty, and preserving them 
in the King's granaries and storehouses, so that when 
the lean years came there should be food a-plenty for 
all who asked it of the King. So the Spiritual Teachers 
of the Race, the Masters of Wisdom and Elder Broth- 
ers of humanity, have for our sakes dwelt in Egypt 
that They might store up in the granaries of the King 
of Kings the spiritual philosophy which alone can 
bring satisfaction when the days of famine of the 
Word are upon us. They it is who have marked out 
the Way which leads direct to the storehouse of the 
King of Kings. 

Think you in the days of famine in Egypt, those who 
came seeking the food so lavishly furnished them by 
Joseph caviled at his personality? Did they say, "This 
man is a Canaanite. He has served time in prison. 
He has been sold as a slave. He is but human like 
ourselves, with faults and weaknesses and secret sins, 
even as we ourselves. He cannot feed us. We will 
have none of him. The same God who gave him the 
forethought to store up the corn and wine is our God. 
We will find Him within, and He shall feed us, for all 
things are ours?" It is obvious that such an 1 would 
have gone hungry and been forced to prove the fallacy 
of his doctrine. And so must it ever be. For while 
the I AM is The Christ within every Soul, there is no 
greater sin — if by sin we mean mistake — than the 
great "heresy of separateness." It takes all humanity 
to complete the expression of the Divine, hence, since 
the wisdom of no 1 man has ever evolved a complete 
science or formulated a philosophy without the aid of 
his predecessors, so no 1 Soul can unaided find the 



xii Foreword 

whole Truth within himself. All a Soul can find 
within is its own Truth, the Truth that shall make it 
free. The voice of The Christ within giveth testimony 
unto Truth, i. e., the I AM tells us unmistakably what 
is Truth and what is not. Also it should be remem- 
bered that all Truth comes to man through an human 
intellect, either through your own or that of another, 
while the I AM simply knows and recognizes Truth, 
witnesses to and affirms it. Therefore, as long as we 
listen to this Voice within no personality, teacher or 
teaching can deceive or disappoint us ; for we will 
"take, eat" only from The Christ the bread that He 
has broken and given to His disciples to be distributed 
to the multitude ; we will drink only from the Cup 
that He has blessed and filled with His own spiritual 
life-force. This is the basis on which we ask you to 
consider the teachings of this volume. If you hear 
the assenting Voice within or feel the thrill of Truth 
confirmed, then partake of it to the upbuilding of your 
spiritual life. If not, then pass it by until a riper 
understanding reveals it to you. 

The Wisdom Religion is the accumulated wisdom, 
1st of Revelation; 2nd of Inner Assent by The Christ 
within ; and 3rd of Experience, not of any 1 man, but 
of many men in all ages who have struggled, sinned, 
suffered, triumphed and finally mastered the problems 
and forces of life. These have left behind them a well 
trodden Path leading to the very door of the store- 
house of the King, where They ever stand ready to 
pass on to soul-hungry, starving humanity the life- 
giving food ; for They have eaten of it and found it 
utterly satisfying and will neither hunger nor thirst any 
more. Some morsels are offered herein. Take, eat, if 
you will, and be satisfied. 



PREFACE 

"The twenty-two sounds and letters are the 
Foundation of all things. Three mothers, seven 
doubles and twelve simples." — Sepher Yetzirah, 
II, 1. 

Our great desire in presenting this work to the 
public is that it shall be a practical treatise; that it 
shall explain to the student the reason for and the 
nature of the many mysterious experiences which he 
encounters as the Path of Attainment unfolds before 
and within him, to the end that he may understand 
their significance, learn their lessons and avoid the 
mistakes and discouragements which result from igno- 
rance of the Law. In other words, we shall endeavor 
to show that all personal experiences are expressions 
of the 1 Great Law manifesting according to mathe- 
matical principles, demonstrating that the unfoldment 
of the godlike possibilities inherent in each Soul fol- 
lows, step by step, the same order of events that is 
followed in the evolution of the Cosmos, and that such 
steps are symbolized by the first 22 numbers — the 
Signature or Name of God. This signature is im- 
pressed upon the Cosmos through the Divine Trinity, 
the 7 Sacred Planets and the 12 signs of the Zodiac. 

"In fact, in the 'Sepher Yetzirah,' God considered as 
the Infinite and consequently the indefinable Being, 
extended throughout all things by His power and 
existence, is while above, yet not outside of numbers, 
sounds and letters, — the principles and general laws 
which we recognize !" x 

Our effort throughout will be not to compile a work 
for scholars only, but to popularize occult philosophy 
by presenting in a form easily comprehensible by the 

1 La Kabbale, Franck, quoted by Westcott in The Sepher Yetzirah, 8. 



xiv Preface 

average intelligent reader, the philosophic principles 
symbolized by the 1st 22 numbers. These few numbers, 
as we explain herein, truly form the key to the evolu- 
tion of both man and the Cosmos, or The Key to the 
Universe, for they symbolize and illustrate the cosmic 
principles back of all manifestation, and prove mathe- 
matically the relationship between the microcosm and 
the macrocosm. They also mathematically demon- 
strate the principles of Christian Mysticism as ex- 
pounded by The Order of Christian Mystics (Order 
of the 15).^ 

In addition to giving the spiritual interpretation of 
the 1st 22 numbers, we also include an explanation of 
the esoteric meaning of the 22 letters of the Hebrew 
alphabet which correspond to them, together with the 
symbology of the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot cards. 

"The alphabet of the Hebrews is composed of 22 
letters; these letters, however, are not placed by 
chance, one after the other. Each of them corresponds 
with a number according to its work, with a hiero- 
glyphic according to its form, with a symbol according 
to its affinities with other letters." 2 

While accepting many of the more spiritual inter- 
pretations of other writers on numbers and the Tarot, 
by the presentation of a great mass of original mate- 
rial derived from inspirational sources, we shall avoid 
making this work either a mere compilation of the 
statements of others presented without elucidation or 
a dry mathematical treatise. 

Another feature of this work is the liberal quota- 
tions from that wonderful mine of information and the 
foremost authority on occultism in the Western world, 
The Secret Doctrine, by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. 
This work is so large and expensive that it is possessed 
only by a comparatively few scholars. Hence, for the 
benefit of the great mass of occult students who would 

3 The Tarot, Papus, 94. 



Preface xv 

otherwise never partake of its riches, we will quote 
extensively from it, as well as paraphrase other por- 
tions whenever they will either elucidate or substan- 
tiate our point or interpretation. That these quota- 
tions may be easily distinguished from the original 
matter, and for convenience in reference, they will be 
placed in a special style of type. 

The Secret Doctrine and The Voice of Isis will be 
referred to so frequently herein that their titles will be 
abbreviated in the footings to S. D., vol., etc., and 
V. of L, respectively. 

A number of our monthly lessons are referred to in 
the footnotes. These will be sent free of charge until 
the supply is exhausted, when requested by the pur- 
chasers of this volume. 



San Francisco, Cal., 
Sept. 15th, 1915. 



THE KEY TO THE UNIVERSE 



CHAPTER 1 



THE ORIGIN OF NUMERICAL SYSTEMS. 

"Every cosmogony, from the earliest to the 
latest, is based upon, interlinked with, and most 
closely related to, numerals and geometrical 
figures." — The Secret Doctrine, Blavatasky, III, 
69. 

"So teach us to number our days, that we may 
apply our hearts unto wisdom." — Psalms, xc, 12. 

"God is a Number endowed with motion, which 
is felt but not demonstrated." — Balzac. 

Mathematics is the only exact science; the only 1 
whose propositions are capable of conclusive proof and 
demonstration. All other so-called "exact sciences" 
are based upon assumptions, deductions and "working 
hypotheses" which are more or less useful until further 
investigation and discovery proves them to be but 
partial truths. And in these days of rapid progress, 
the changes of base in the "exact sciences" are so fre- 
quent that the scientific text-books have to be re- 
written every few years, so rapidly are the materialistic 
conceptions of matter and the universe outgrown. 
Only 3 centuries ago the "exact science" of the 
day was unanimous in the opinion that the earth was 
flat, and opposed the idea of the infinity of the universe 
and the plurality of worlds to such a degree that its 
leaders burned Giordano Bruno at the stake for daring 
to oppose their dictum. Within a decade or 2 
"exact science" ridiculed the possibility of the trans- 
mutation of metals, classing it as a mere vagary of 



18 The Key to the Universe 

unbalanced mystics, yet today we have the transmuta- 
tion of metals going on in many laboratories as a 
matter of course. Only a few years ago we were 
taught that the atom was a particle of matter, but today 
the same "exact science" asks us to believe that it is 
not "matter" at all, but the union of 2 units of force 
called "electrons." The facts as taught by the mystics 
of all ages remain; modern interpretation of them 
evolves and expands. 

Words are symbols of ideas, but numbers are 
symbols of divine realities ; spiritual verities eternal in 
the heavens, which express themselves periodically in 
the worlds of objectivity. "If as Pythagoras said: 'The 
world is built upon the power of numbers,' then num- 
bers must be the key to the understanding of the 
world." "They are a key to the ancient views on 
cosmogony, in its broad sense, including man and 
beings, and the evolution of the human race, spiritu- 
ally as well as physically." x 

"Hence we find numbers and figures used as an 
expression and a record of thought in every ar- 
chaic symbolical scripture. They are ever the 
same, with certain variations only, arising from 
the first figures." 2 

Following Prof. Max Midler, it is commonly ac- 
cepted that our present numerical system was invented 
by the Arabs, for he tells us that, "The two words 
cipher and zero, which are but one, are sufficient to 
prove that our figures are borrowed from the Arabs." 3 
As a matter of fact the system was introduced into 
Europe by Pythagoras, who found it already fully de- 
veloped in India. It is true that later the system was 
widely spread by Arab traders, but they also obtained 
it from India. Prof. Muller later admits this origin 
himself when he says elsewhere : "Cipher is the Arabic 
cipron, which means simply, a translation of the Sans- 

1 Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky, II, 407. 

' The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 341. 

* Our Figures, M'iiller. 



The Origin of Numerical Systems 19 

krit name of nought." * Among the Hebrews the 
kabalistic word Sephiroth also corresponds to the word 
cipher, not in the sense of nothing, but rather in the 
sense of containing within itself the powers of creation 
by number and degrees of evolution, altho as yet 
unmanifested, hence a void. 

The Hindus, however, do not claim to have origi- 
nated the science, for the sages declare that it was 
revealed to them by the Devas (the Gods). Also, 
"The Pythagoreans asserted that the doctrine of Num- 
bers, the chief of all in Esotericism, had been revealed 
to man by the Celestial Deities ; that the World had 
been called forth out of Chaos by Sound or Harmony, 
and according to the principles of musical proportion." 5 
These are but confirmations of the occult teaching 
that the science of numbers was not slowly evolved by 
primitive man learning to count on his fingers — which 
is deduced as the probable origin by exoteric investi- 
gators — but was a fully elaborated system of compu- 
tation revealed to the priesthood of the early Races 
by the Elder Brothers and Spiritual Teachers of man- 
kind. 6 

"The symbol was the origin of measures, shadowing 
forth creative law or design. * * * Reflection be- 
comes more involved when it is considered that the 
power of expression of the law, exactly, by numbers 
clearly defining a system, was not the accident of the 
language, but was its very essence, and of its primary 
organic construction; therefore, neither the language, 
nor the mathematical system attaching to it, could be 
of man's invention, unless both were founded upon a 
prior language which afterzvards became obsolete." 7 

No matter how far back into the night of time 
archeological or other investigations are extended, high 
stages of civilization are found, each having an elabo- 

* Chips, Vol. II, 284 (1873). 
5 S. D., I, 467. 

• A volume might easily be written substantiating this statement, 
but its truth is so self-evident to all who have investigated the subject 
that we do not consider it necessary to present further evidence than 
is contained in this volume. 

7 The Source of Pleasures, Skinner, 204. 



20 The Key to the Universe 

rate numerical system, where, according to modern 
scientific theories, only the most primitive conditions 
might be expected. Even today we find primitive 
systems existing side by side with the most advanced. 
They are found, however, only among the sub-races 
which are not in touch with the highest civilization of 
their age. Relics of so-called primitive people — the 
so-called "cave-man" and other degenerate remnants 
of the earlier sub-races — are no more an index of the 
stage of development to which mankind as a whole had 
reached in those bygone days, than the development 
of the present Bushmen of Australia or the Ainos of 
Japan are an index to the height to which civilization 
has reached today. The 2 extremes exist at the same 
time, if not side by side. 8 The almost incalculable 
antiquity of elaborate astronomical and numerical sys- 
tems is sufficiently indicated to sustain the occult teach- 
ing by the following quotation : 

"Diogenes Laertius carried back the astronom- 
ical calculations of the Egyptians to 48,863 years 
before Alexander the Great. Martianus Capella 
corroborates this by telling posterity that the 
Egyptians had secretly studied Astronomy for 
over 40,000 years, before they imparted their 
knowledge of the world. * * * Mr. Proctor shows, 
in his Myths and Marvels of Astronomy, that 
the ancient Astronomers had acquired a system 
of the most accurate Astronomy 2,400 years B. C. ; 
the Hindus date their Kali Yuga from a great 
periodical conjunction of the Planets thirty-one 
centuries B.C.*** Simplicimus, in the sixth cen- 
tury, A. D., writes that he had always heard that 
the Egyptians had kept astronomical observations 
and records for a period of 630,000 years. This 
statement appears to frighten Mr. Gerald Massey, 
who remarks that : 'If we read this number 
of years by the month which Euxodus said the 
Egyptians termed a year, i. e., a course of time, 
that would still yield the length of two cycles 
of precession (51,736 years)'." 9 



8 For the occult teaching on the origin of Races see the Voice 
of Isis, Curtiss, Chapters xiii, xv, xvii. 
8 5*. D., I, 712-3. 



The Origin of Numerical Systems 21 

Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians founded a 
system of a 12 god theogony. Hence we find in Egypt 
the duo-decimal system, or method of reckoning by 12, 
in common use. And it is to the use of that system 
in the construction of the pyramids, that the origin 
of the English foot of 12 inches has been traced. Among 
the early Races the decimal system, or reckoning by 10, 
was esoteric and known only to the higher Initiates 
among the priesthood. 

"Now, if, on the one hand, the most ancient 
Indian MSS. show as yet no trace of decimal 
notation in them, and Max Miiller states very 
clearly that until now he has found but nine 
letters, the initials of the Sanskrit numerals ; on 
the other hand, we have records as ancient, 
to supply the wanted proof. We speak of the 
sculptures and the sacred imagery in the most 
ancient temples of the Far East." 10 

The decimal system was held sacred because the 
priesthood, having received it directly from the Divine 
Teachers of mankind and having been taught its sacred 
significance, understood that in the numbers from 1 to 
10 the whole evolution of the Cosmos and of man, the 
descent of Spirit into matter that matter might be 
redeemed, together with man's At-one-ment with the 
Divine, were portrayed and revealed to those who had 
eyes to see and hearts to understand. 

"We know that the decimal system must have 
been used by mankind of the earliest archaic ages, 
since the whole astronomical and geometrical 
portion of the secret sacerdotal language was built 
upon the number 10, or the combination of the 
male and female principles. * * * The 10, being 
the sacred number of the Universe, was secret 
and esoteric, both as regards the unit and cipher, 
or zero, the circle." 10 

The priesthood knew the dire results of the misuse, 
perversion, debasement or reversal of any symbol, hence 

10 5. D., I, 386. 



22 The Key to the Universe 

would have saved mankind from all the degradation 
and suffering which has resulted from the fraudulent 
manipulation of these sacred symbols by man to acquire 
personal advance or power at the expense of his fellow 
men; for example, the acquiring of individual wealth 
at the expense of the community and mankind in gen- 
eral (i. e., the worship of the Beast), in contradistinc- 
tion to the creation of wealth through agriculture, 
mining, manufacturing, etc. 

We may here mention that 1 of the most common 
ways of perverting the potencies of numbers, and per- 
haps the most insidious and demoralizing in its effects 
upon mankind, is the use of numbers in games of 
chance or gambling. It is said that every confirmed 
gambler has a more or less well developed system which 
he believes is bound to win. The so-called element of 
chance as applied to numbers has been demonstrated 
to be subject to certain laws which bring success for 
a time, and it is this mysterious property of numbers, 
which the gambler senses and tries to control, that 
lures him on to his inevitable ruin. For the law of 
numbers does not belong to the realm of chance. 
Numbers are potent factors in the working out of 
Divine Law, hence no system devised by man for his 
own aggrandizement or advantage at the expense of 
others, can ultimately succeed. It may seemingly do 
so up to a certain point or until the cycle of that par- 
ticular combination of numbers reverts back to its true 
rate of vibration or the key-note which belongs to that 
particular expression of the Divine Law, and fulfills 
its real mission. The Law of Numbers, being the law 
of the progressive manifestation of the Christos or the 
Divine Light penetrating Chaos and evolving all mani- 
fested things back to ultimate unity, in certain stages 
may seemingly lend itself to the furtherance of evil, 
but in the end this will be shown to be but the gather- 



The Origin of Numerical Systems 23 

ing together of the forces of Chaos (chance) that they 
may be swept aside, swallowed up and ultimately trans- 
muted into unity. 

"Number is, as the great writer (Balzac) 
thought, an Entity, and, at the same time, a 
Breath emanating from what he called God and 
what we call the ALL, the Breath which alone 
could organize the physical Cosmos, 'where naught 
obtains its form but through Diety,' which is an 
effect of Number." 11 

Numbers may be compared to the bones of the body 
in that they are the framework upon which the super- 
structure of manifestation is erected. Therefore, even 
if the study of occult mathematics may seem to some 
but a study of dry bones, it is as necessary to the occult 
student as a study of osteology to the medical student. 
Its study was considered so important by the Greeks, 
that it, together with physical culture, comprised the 
entire educational curriculum. Their system of mathe- 
matics, however, embraced 4 categories, arithmetic or 
the laws of numbers ; geometry or the laws of plane 
and solid figures ; astronomy, which included astrology, 
or the laws of both planetary motions and their spiritual 
and magnetic influences ; and, finally, music, under 
which heading they included harmony, rhythm and 
poetry, their poetry in turn embracing the history of 
the world. 

In the Bible, from the days of creation to the Apoca- 
lypse, great stress is laid upon numbers, especially 3, 
4, 7, and 12. In the Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, 
Upanishads, etc., numbers underlie every hymn, and 
stress is laid upon 1, 3 and 7; the same system upon 
which Vach or the sacred speech of Zoroaster was built. 
Hence it is impossible to become an Adept and fully 
grasp the deep problems of either the Brahmanical, 
Buddhistic, Zoroastrian or Christian sacred books with- 

11 s. D., I, 95-6. 



24 The Key to the Universe 

out a knowledge of the significance of numbers. The 
power of a mantram or hymn, or a reading from 1 of 
the sacred books, varies with the numbers and syllables 
of the words, the rhythm of the meter and the vibra- 
tions of the tones used, in addition to the meaning of 
the words themselves. This is recognized more or less 
clearly in all religions, from the chanting of the sacred 
sentence Om mani padme hum of the Hindu and Thi- 
betan monks, the rhythmic reading from Granth Sahib 
and the repetition of the sacred name Wahguru of the 
Sikhs, to the intoning of the service in many branches 
of the Christian church. If these various forms of 
mantra are intoned slowly and with a rhythmic ca- 
dence a certain effect is produced ; if quickly and 
sharply quite a different effect results. These effects, 
being founded upon the laws of vibration, are not 
imaginary nor merely the result of suggestion upon 
especially sensitive persons. The nerves are like the 
strings of a musical instrument and try to respond and 
adjust themselves to the vibrations playing upon them, 
and the effects are plainly apparent both upon the mind 
and the emotions. This is the secret of the soothing 
and healing power of music, as well as the stimulating 
effect of martial airs. 

Since all things manifest according to the laws of 
numbers and vibration, everything can be made to re- 
spond to these laws. Hence, 1 who has gained the 
mastery over his voice, or as the occultist would say, 
can command the "Army of the Voice," is master over 
all. This is the only true magic, "Know thyself." 
Know the key-note of that which you desire, harmonize 
yourself with it and then sound it. 

"God geometrizes" is an ancient occult axiom which 
cryptically expresses the fact that all manifestations 
of God, life, nature, as they come into objectivity from 
subjectivity, flow along geometrical lines and follow 



The Origin of Numerical Systems 25 

geometrical laws. "It is an interesting fact that the 
superior metals crystallize at the angle or comple- 
mental angle of a regular polygon. If they sometimes 
followed one form and sometimes another we should 
not recognize them for what they are. We depend 
for the fidelity of our perceptions upon the integrity of 
the Great Geometer. * * * If we steadily regard the 
geometry of Nature in the same patient and sincere 
manner as did Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Kepler, Tycho, 
Newton, Kelvin, and others we shall probably come to 
the conclusion that number, as expressed in geometrical 
relations, is the most intimate expression of the Soul 
of things." 12 Each such expression has its number, 
rate of vibration or wave-length, its sound, color and 
form, and its own place in the Grand Plan or scheme 
of the universe. This is as true of the forces which 
create a world as of those which create a snow crystal. 
As we have said elsewhere : "All Nature-shapes can be 
traced back to and analyzed into simple geometrical 
figures: • |ADO just as all musical notes produce 
characteristic designs when made to pass through sand 
or other suitable material." 13 

"Thus the evolution and correlation of the 
mysteries of Kosmos, of its growth and devel- 
opment — spiritual and physical, abstract and con- 
crete — were first recorded in geometrical changes 
of shape." 14 

In view of the above facts, some understanding of 
the origin and significance of numbers and geometrical 
forms is necessary to the larger conception of divine 
manifestation, whether in man, nature or the universe. 
For numbers are not arbitrary symbols, but constitute 
a sacred science, its symbols being generated by the 
manifestation of all nature and the Cosmos itself, as 
we shall endeavor to show herein. 

12 The Kabala of Numbers, Sepharial, II, 23-7. 
11 V. of I., 357. 
l « 5". D., I, 341. 



CHAPTER 2 

THE SYMBOL OF THE O AND THE SERPENT 

"God is a circle, the center of which is every- 
where and the circumference nowhere." — Pascal. 

"Alone, the One Form of Existence stretched 
boundless, infinite, causeless, in Dreamless Sleep; 
and Life pulsated unconscious in Universal Space, 
throughout that All-Presence, which is sensed 
by the Open Eye of Dangma." — Stanzas of 
Dzyan, I, 8. 

In numerical systems the O is the 1st symbol to be 
considered, as it is the 1 from which all others proceed. 
It is a symbol of Unmanifested Deity; in the Bible, 
the darkness of Chaos from which the Cosmos 
emerges. It is the Night of Brahm in which all is 
latent, "a boundless darkness on the ground of which 
appears the first central point in white." It may sound 
paradoxical to call the Deity, whom we are wont to 
think of as Universal Life and Omnipotent Being, a 
circle of darkness, yet right here the student must 
begin to adjust his point of view to the occult and 
mystical conceptions. A fundamental axiom is that 
"extremes meet," also that vibrations of light and life 
may be so intense that they cannot be perceived by 
man's physical senses — the solar spectrum above violet, 
for instance — hence are apparently darkness and non- 
existence. Such a boundless circle of pulsating, vi- 
brant yet undifferentiated life-force proceeding from 
the Center of All Life, forms the "waters of the Great 
Deep," deep in that they are unfathomable and incom- 
prehensible to undeveloped man. Only when the Spirit 
of God moves upon these waters and the Word — the 



The Symbol of the O an d ^ e Serpent 27 

Son of God — is sent down into manifestation, are the 
waves of this Great Deep stilled, i. e., the vibrations are 
slowed down so that that which we understand as life 
begins to manifest. 

Having neither beginning nor end, as we have said 
elsewhere : "The circle represents Boundless Space 
and limitless Time in Eternity. It marks off the space 
in which creation takes place, or the Circle formed by 
the down-pouring of the Great Creative Force. * * * 
It is much like the circle of light projected by a magic 
lantern, within which the pictures are to appear. In 
one sense it is the circle of the unmanifested zodiac 
(the pathway of our solar system)." 1 In other words 
it is the Boundless Sphere of Space within which our 
entire Cosmos is manifesting. Our earth is but 1 point 
or digit in this mighty circle or cipher. 

The O is called naught or no-thing because no thing 
has been differentiated or manifested. It is the Silence 
of Non-Being. It is "the secret habitation of the ever 
invisible Deity." 

"In the minds of the ancient Philosophers 
something of the Divine and mysterious has ever 
been ascribed to the shape of the circle. The 
old world, consistent in its symbolism and with 
its Pantheistic intuitions, uniting the visible and 
the invisible Infinitudes into one, represented 
Deity and its outward Veil alike — by a circle." 2 

"In the beginning was a great Abyss (Chaos), nei- 
ther Day nor Night existed ; the Abyss was Ginnun- 
gagop, the yawning gulf, without beginning, without 
end. All-Father, the Uncreated, the Unseen, dwelt in 
the Depth of the Abyss (Space), and willed, and what 
was willed came into being." 3 Ireneus in writing of 
the number symbolism of the Marcosians says: "Be- 
fore all universes there is a source (or beginning) be- 
fore the primal source, prior even to that state which 

1 V. of I., 414. * Asgard and the Gods, 22. 

1 S. D„ II, 575. 



28 The Key to the Universe 

is inconceivable, ineffable, unnameable, which I num- 
ber as Naughtness." 4 

It may be easier to form a conception of the begin- 
nings of a mighty universe if we apply the same laws 
and processes to the individual, for in our small way 
we are all centers which send out invisible radiations 
of life-force in a circle, the size of the circle being 
limited by the forcefulness of the life within the center. 
Until its forces are made concrete and directed toward 
definite ends this circle is an invisible and unknown O 
of darkness, a Chaos, yet vibrant with potencies — our 
vague and unformed desires, longings and ideals. This 
circle is our sea, corresponding to the Great Deep. On 
it we are rocking in the little boat of our personality. 
The Christ within is asleep and spiritual darkness is 
upon the face of the waters. We sail over the sea of 
life wholly engrossed in the things pertaining to our 
personality until a tempestuous and inharmonious con- 
dition arises and threatens to overwhelm us. When 
the personality sees no way of escape, in desperation 
it cries out : "Lord save us : we perish." It appeals 
to The Christ within : "Master, carest thou not that 
we perish ?" Then the Son of Man, the same omnipo- 
tent Word sent forth in the beginning, arises and re- 
bukes the tempestuous forces (winds) of adversity 
which manifesting normally in man's creative O 
should steadily advance his evolution without over- 
whelming him. The wind symbolizes the Breath of 
the Spirit moving upon the waters of life. While it 
should quicken the vibrations of the sea of life, it 
should not be permitted to create a storm capable of 
wrecking the little boat of personality. But when the 
Master within is awakened He is able to rebuke the 
tempestuous winds and say to the sea: "Peace, be 
still." 



* Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, Mead, 373. 



The Symbol of the O an d the Serpent 29 

"The Zeroana Akerne is also the 'Boundless 
Circle of Unknown Time,' from which Circle 
issues the radiant Light — the Universal Sun, or 
Ormazd [the Logos or the "First Born"] — and 
the latter is identical with Cronus, in his ^Eolian 
form, that of a Circle. For the Circle is Sar and 
Saros, or Cycle. It was the Babylonian God 
whose circular horizon was the visible symbol 
of the invisible, while the Sun was the One 
Circle from which proceeded the cosmic orbs, 
of which he was considered the leader. Zeroana, 
is the Chakra, or Circle, of Vishnu, the mysterious 
emblem which is, according to the definition of 
a Mystic, 'a curve of such a nature that as to any, 
the least possible, part thereof, if the curve be 
projected in either way, it will proceed and 
finally re-enter upon itself, and form one and the 
same curve — or that which we call the circle.' No 
better definition could thus be given of the natural 
symbol and the evident nature of Deity, which 
having its circumference everywhere (the bound- 
less) has, therefore, its central point also every- 
where; in other words, is in every point of the 
Universe." 5 

The circle also represents the Garden of Eden which 
contained everything that would be needed for the 
growth and unfoldment of the as yet unmanifested 
man or Adam, the number 1. It was into this great 
encompassing O or Garden that "the Lord God" (the 
7 Elohim) put the 1st man, made in their 7 fold image, 
"to dress it and keep it." In the midst of this Garden 
was placed the Tree of Life which, astronomically and 
astrologically, is the sun with all its life-giving powers 
in the center of the zodiac, or the Dot in the circle. 
As applied to man, the Tree of Life in the midst of 
his "Eden" (body) refers to a deep mystery which, 
when understood in its fullness, will, as the gods said, 
make him "become as one of us" (the Elohim) a per- 
fect 0> knowing the good as well as the evil or both 
halves of the O- Man upon the physical plane stands 

« S. D., I, 139. 



30 The Key to the Universe 

in the center of his circle, which reaches up to the 
realms of the gods and also sweeps downward into the 
nether worlds. Hence, ere he can manifest in and 
master his complete O he must, like all Saviors, de- 
scend into the hell of matter and become the savior 
of all the lower kingdoms, ere he can ascend into the 
higher realms or reenter Eden. This will be elabo- 
rated in the chapter on number 17 in Volume II. 

A circle formed by a serpent — symbol of life and 
wisdom — swallowing its tail, symbolizes unending life 
or immortality. But this symbol means far more than 
a cycle of time, for it also symbolizes the Source of 
all creation, the Womb of Nature from which the 
Universe* comes forth and also the womb from which 
the future man proceeds, even the fetus in the womb 
being curved upon itself in a circular fashion. This 
is the esoteric meaning of the so-called temptation to 
create, as allegorized in the 3rd chapter of Genesis, 
when the O or the serpent began its numerical evolu- 
tions within the cycle of manifestation, i. e., the Garden 
of Eden. The serpent therefore represents the cosmic 
Great Creative Force 6 which manifests as sex-force 
only when focused in the sex organs. The Great Cre- 
ative Force is The Christ-force or that fructifying and 
vivifying power through whose action all things are 
brought into manifestation, not out of nothing but out 
of the O or great storehouse of potential energy 
which awaits only the creative activity of "the Lord 
God" (the Law of Good) to bring forth. In the bibli- 
cal allegory we have the Godhead manifesting in its 
positive (man) and negative (woman) aspects with 
the magnetic attraction of the Creative Force (serpent- 
power) uniting them and forming His likeness or the 
expression of the Trinity on earth. 

The manifestation of the Great Creative Force in its 
aspect as sex is a most potent factor in man's evolu- 

6 See V. of I., 173, 244-6, 366. 



The Symbol of the O und the Serpent 31 

tion — spiritual as well as physical. In fact upon its 
right understanding rests the destiny of mankind on 
this planet. For only through generation, and the les- 
sons learned through the manifestation of the Great 
Creative P'orce in its most dense and material aspect 
of sex, can mankind reach regeneration. Only by the 
power of The Christ can man meet and conquer all 
that comes to him in this day of manifestation, and out 
of the seemingly blind forces of its chaotic night cre- 
ate a new day. 

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast 
of the field." 

In this connection many students do not observe the 
proper distinction between the words subtil which is 
used to describe the serpent, and subtle which has quite 
a different meaning. According to the Standard Dic- 
tionary subtil means "having fine structure, not gross 
or dense ; rarified ; refined ; attenuated ; ethereal, hence 
penetrating as a subtil perfume," while "subtle is used 
as an attribute of mind in the derogatory sense of 
crafty." We therefore see that the serpent is not 
represented as crafty and enticing, but as an ethereal 
creative force which unites the positive and nega- 
tive and enables them to bring forth. "In the 
Egyptian mythology, Kneph the Eternal unrevealed 
God is represented by a snake-emblem of eternity 
encircling a water-urn, with his head hovering over 
the waters, which he incubates with his breath. In 
this case the serpent is Agathodaimon, the good spirit ; 
in its opposite aspect it is the Kakothodaimon — the 
bad one." 7 

"It is owing to the serpent being oviparous, 
that it became a symbol of Wisdom and an 
emblem of the Logoi, or the Self-Born. * * * 
The Creative God emerges from the Egg that 
issues from the mouth of Kneph, as a winged 



' Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky, I, 133. 



32 The Key to the Universe 

Serpent, for the Serpent is the symbol of the 
All- Wisdom. With the Hebrews the same Deity 
is glyphed by the Flying or 'Fiery Serpents' of 
Moses in the Wilderness ; and with the Alexan- 
drian Mystic she becomes the Orphio-Christos, the 
Logos of the Gnostics. The Protestants try to 
show that the allegory of the Brazen Serpent and 
the Fiery Serpents has a direct reference to 
the mystery of the Christ and the Crucifixion, 
whereas, in truth, it has a far nearer relation to 
the Mystery of generation, when dissociated from 
the Egg with the Central Germ, or the Circle 
with its Central Point. Without the Egg it was 
purely a phallic symbol, but when associated there- 
with, it related to cosmic creation." 8 

"So little have the first Christians * * * under- 
stood the first four chapters of Genesis in their 
esoteric meaning, that they have never perceived 
that not only was no sin intended * * * but that 
the 'Serpent' was actually the 'Lord God' himself, 
who, as Ophis, the Logos, or the bearer of the 
divine creative wisdom, taught mankind to become 
creators in their turn. They never realized that 
the Cross was an evolution from the Tree and 
the Serpent, and thus became the salvation of 
mankind. By this it would become the very 
first fundamental symbol of Creative Cause, apply- 
ing to geometry, to numbers, to astronomy, to 
measure and to animal reproduction." 9 

What can be plainer? The Divine Creative Force 
degraded by man has become through man's evil 
thoughts, the Tempter and Devil ! Yet it must mani- 
fest in matter (number 4) as the cross, following the 
sequence of the Q, 1, 2 and 3. Hence only when mere 
animal desire and the wrong use and abuse of this 
mighty spiritual force of creativeness, has been cruci- 
fied and balanced upon the cross of matter can the 
scriptures be fulfilled : "For since by man came death ; 
by man came also the resurrection from the dead." 

"The divinity of the serpent is proved by the occur- 
rence of a horned serpent with twelve Roman gods on 

• S. D., I, 389-90. » 5. D., II, 226. 



The Symbol of the O an d the Serpent 33 

a Gallo-Roman altar. In other cases a horned or 
ram's-headed serpent appears as an attribute of 
a god. * * * M. Reinach claims that the 
primitive elements of the Orphic myth of the 
Thracian Dionysos-Zagrens — the divine serpents pro- 
ducing an egg whence came the horned snake 
Zagrens, occur in dislocated form in Gaul. There 
enlacing serpents were believed to produce a magic 
e gg> 10 and there a horned serpent was worshipped 

* * * and horned serpents are known in other 
mythologies — the horn being perhaps a symbol of 
divinity." 11 The horned serpent referred to above 
was not worshipped, any more than is the cross of the 
Christian world today, but was a symbol of Divine 
Wisdom. Stinson Jarvis explains it thus : "Out of the 
great female Egg parent, the M-OON (Mother 
EGG), comes the Druid sign of Wisdom, the Serpent. 
Thus every tail-sign, C U, growing out of the head, or 
Egg (as shown in the Q), tells of the Wisdom that 
comes from the Head, and the carved Moon-priest at 
Palenke has a great C U hanging down from the back 
of his head, because this wisdom serpent called C U 
comes out of the Egg, or Head, namely, out of the 
M I N - D or Moon Deity, who is our word MIND, 
and is also the Cat goddess pictured in my fourth 
Chapter. * * * Our 'Ophi-d-i-a-n' or Snake, is 
the Time-sign alphabetic Serpent named in the Greek 
word for snake as O-PH-I-S, which says C I R C - E L, 
'The Island Sign,' because it named the Circle Church. 

* * * In the same kind of naming the Ophites, a 
[so-called] heretic branch of the early Christians, had 
a Snake god named by them as the father of sciences ; 
and their name Ophi-Te-s records their 'Snake God/ 

10 "A curious amulet, connected with the Druids, became famous 
in Roman times and is described by Pliny. This was the 'serpent's egg'; 
formed from_ the foam produced by serpents twining themselves together. 

* * * Pliny has seen this egg! It was about the size of an apple, with a 
cartilaginous skin covered with discs. Probably it was an echinus, such 
as has. been found in Gaulish tombs." (5". D., I, 328.) Mrs. Curtiss 
has had 1 of these "serpent's eggs" since childhood, it having been 
found by her father upon the Giants' Causeway in Ireland. It is a 
fossil echinus. 

11 The Religion of the Ancient Celts, Macculoch, 211-12. 



34 The Key to the Universe 

and themselves as 'Snake [Wisdomj People/ in the 
regular way." 12 

It is therefore a mistake, due to ignorance of its 
symbology, to identify the serpent with evil or the 
devil. It was only by man's perversion of his god-like 
power to create, and his misuse of it for mere animal 
gratification and to further his own selfish ends, that 
he has created all the evil from which he and all the 
kingdoms below him have suffered from the time of 
its 1st misuse. Each stage of unfoldment and each 
passing phase of evolution has its needs and its highest 
point of expression, like the crest of each in-rushing 
wave of the sea. The sacred function of Creation, of 
which sex is but 1 expression, must not be confined 
merely to its animal function of procreation, for pro- 
creation is but 1 breaker on the shore of time. That 
which is called sex when operating through the sex 
organs of the body, becomes Divine Creative Christ- 
force when operating through nature; Creative Idea- 
tion when functioning through the mind, and the out- 
going of the Divine Breath, or the Urge to Manifest 
of the God-creativeness when functioning through the 
Cosmos, all being expressions of the Eternal Motion 
or the 1 Life of the Divine O- While the creative 
function must have its expression through our animal 
body, as must all our functions, and while it has its 
animal aspect, it is by no means limited to that animal 
aspect, but has its higher and spiritual uses as well. 

"As to the importance of ardent love between pa- 
rents, the irony would seem to be that many women, 
owing to early lack of hygiene and attention to perfect 
physical development, are incapable of reaching any 
depth of such feelings, while a few take actual pride 
in such insensitiveness due to distorted ideas of sex 
and chastity. Under such conditions, union for what- 
ever purpose must be far from ideal. What it all 

12 The Jarvis Letters, Chapter x. 



The Symbol of the Q and the Serpent 35 

comes to is that with some temperaments, a sacra- 
mental union for the deepening of unity and the blend- 
ing of the two natures should be fully recognized apart 
from the careful consideration due to the creation of 
children." 13 

When nature intends that the sex function in hu- 
manity shall be limited to procreation only, there will 
be but 1 season in the year when the human female can 
be impregnated. Until that time, the very fact that 
this is not the case shows that there must be other*and 
higher uses for that function. 14 

Among the highly cultured Druid Priests who 
brought with them to Britain and Gaul much of the 
wisdom of their Hyperborean ancestors, every letter 
was a word and a symbol which pictured that which 
it chiefly represented. Later on these single-letter- 
words were combined into syllables and longer words, 
but always carrying with them something of the origi- 
nal meaning of the individual letters of which they 
were composed. As Stinson Jarvis shows : "As on 
many other carvings, the Ears of the High Priest who 
was deity, are shown by two forms of the letter 'O'. 
The alphabet word 'O' is the full Celtic name of the 
Ear, and its naming of this god-man's Ears is of itself 
a complete identification of his image with the Celtic 
Church. * * * The Church named herself by the 
'O' ; and because she was the Ear, Eye and Mouth of 
the world, the 'O' names all three, as in Os, the mouth, 
Oculus and Ophthalmos, the Eye, and 'O', Og and Ous, 
the Ear. Consequently the winged 'O' was the regular 
record carving of the Church.* * * Our 'O' named 
the Eye, Ear and Mouth, because this was the EYE 
of the Circle Church, named in the Celtic as A I N, 
meaning both Eye and Circle, and was carved in 
America and everywhere as the Winged Eye or Circle. 
Thus the vision-forms of Ezekiel are described as 'cov- 

10 Modem Astrology, Sept., 1915, letter on page 376. 
M See Letters from the Teacher, Curtiss, Chapter ix. 
* For a fuller explanation see page 376. 



36 The Key to the Universe 

ered with eyes,' as the Los Angeles king-tablets from 
Teotihuacan are also covered with Eyes, picturing the 
all-seeing eye of the deity Church." 15 Thus the Q), 
as the symbol of the Boundless Deity from whence all 
things come into manifestation, became the symbol of 
their church, because the church represented that Deity 
among men, and because their Priests, being the de- 
scendants of the Missionary-Initiates from the original 
sacred college of the ancient Plyperboreans, set forth 
the principles and. worship of the one O Deity to the 
peoples of Britain and Gaul, just as did brother Initi- 
ates sent to India, Chaldee, Egypt, North America, 
Mexico and Peru. The world wide travels of these 
ancient Missionary-Initiates and their descendants ac- 
count for the finding of the same symbols and legends 
in all countries to express the same ideas. Their places 
of worship were therefore built in circular form, our 
modern word for a place of worship, church, being the 
same as the "Anglian CYRC and CIRC and 
KIRK are all the same in naming the 'Church,' 
which in Britain was formed as a CIRCLE and 
named it." 16 The circle was also their sign for Time, 
Turn and Cycle. 

"Under any of its names, the Belt or Gird had the 
same reference to the circling of the sun which named 
the Church, and thus the Hawk which flies in a circle 
and describes this holy form in the air was chosen as 
a picture-name of the priesthood and named in Greek 
as 'KIRKos' (Church or Circle). This is the Hawk 
which, as Job says, was made to fly southward, and in 
Egypt was the head of the local priesthood — his name, 
'KIRKos' recording him as the Circle and the 
Church." 16 

To indicate their spiritual authority derived from 
the one O or including Deity, the priests, and often 
the rulers of various nations, wore as a head-dress a 

15 The Jarvis Letters, xi, viii. 

16 The Jarvis Letters, Chapter ii, xi. 



The Symbol of the Q) and the Serpent 37 

circlet of feathers, as do the American Indian Chiefs, 
the Kings of Hawaii and others. This head-dress 
"has the CIRC-LE-T of Feathers, because the 
light feather, under any of its names, always names 
the parent church identified with the Air ; and the 
Anglian word for feather, as F-AE-DER, also 
means Father," 16 again the parent O or source of all. 
Since the O is the plane in which the Deity — that 
which contains the potencies of all spiritual powers — 
is to manifest, in its perfect expression the Church on 
earth should be the plane of all embracing O which 
holds the potencies of all that humanity can require for 
the manifestation of its spiritual life, the true Priest- 
hood being the Dot in the center of the circle. 

The Round Towers of Ireland, of which only 18 or 
20 out of more than 120 exist today, were connected 
with the Druid sacred colleges and hence were circular 
in shape. According to Jarvis : "The Round Towers 
of Ireland have never had their uses explained, but as 
the towers of Peru and Babylon were admittedly for 
astronomical purposes, so Ireland always had her ob- 
servatories ; and as these were her chief structures and 
landmarks, their names were used to identify her with 
the secretive stories, and also to name her Time-gods, 
her astronomical priests, and even her colonies — such 
as the Tyrians, whose name T U R - 1, means 'Tower 
Islanders.' * * * That some of these observato- 
ries existed before the pyramids were built is shown in 
the fact that the picture of a Tower is built inside the 
Great Pyramid to name our T U R of Jupiter." 17 

In the book of Daniel (iii) we are told that Nebuch- 
adnezzar set up his wonderful golden image in the 
Plain of Dura, the meaning of Dura being a "round 
or circular enclosure." And the round Tower of Belus 
or Bel in the center of the circular Temple of the Sun 
in Babylon is familiar to all classical students and anti- 

18 Ibid., Chapter ii, xi. 1T Ibid., Chapter x. 



38 The Key to the Universe 

quarians. The steeple or tower connected with the 
temple or place of worship in Christian and other 
countries today is but a survival of this once sacred 
symbology. 

We here wish to call especial attention to a remarkable series of 
articles by Mr. Stinson Jarvis which appeared in the Los Angeles 
Sunday Times during 1912-13. Mr. Jarvis has performed a most import- 
ant service for all students of comparative religion and mythology 
by tracing — through the original meanings of the individual symbol- 
letters — the common origin of all great religions, myths, allegories, 
heroes, symbols and ceremonies. As we shall take pleasure in quot- 
ing frequently from these "Letters" we wish here to express our apprecia- 
tion of the great work he has done in placing this vast amount of facts, 
together with his wonderfully consistent scheme of interpretation, at 
the disposal of his fellow students of religion and mythology. There 
is one fundamental deduction, however, with which we must take issue 
with Mr. Jarvis. At the time these articles were written he had evi- 
dently not looked up the ancient esoteric teachings as to the origin 
of the Races of mankind, hence is led to identify the Druid Priests 
of the historical period with the ancient Hyperboreans of the Second 
Great Race of mankind, and as a result credits these Priests with the 
origin of all religions, languages, symbols, sciences, etc. As a matter of 
fact the Druid Priests were merely the remote descendants of the 
original M'issionary-Initiates, Masters of Wisdom or God-men of the 
Golden or Hyperborean Age, who were sent out to all lands to teach 
the nations of the Third (Lemurian) and Fourth (Atlantean) Races 
the one true, universal and all-including spiritual Sun Worship now 
called the Wisdom Religion. Students who are especially interested in 
this subject should look up the references to the Hyperboreans in Mme. 
Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine which, with the above exception, largely 
corroborates Mr. Jarvis' deductions. 



CHAPTER 3 

THE O AS THE EGG AND THE CAT - 

Brahma, the self-existing, "desiring to produce 
various creatures from his own body, first, with 
a thought, created the waters, and deposited in 
them a seed. This seed became a golden egg, 
resplendent as the sun, in which he himself 
was born as Brahma, the progenitor of all 
worlds." — Sanskrit Texts, Muir, 27. 

"Thus when the Orphic poet desired to go 
further back than the point to which the Hesiodic 
theogony traces the generation of the Kosmos, 
he traced the Universe to the great mundane 
egg produced by Chronos, time, out of Chaos and 
Aither — a symbol answering to the mighty 
mixing-bowl of the Platonic demiourgos, and akin 
to all the circular, oval or boat-shaped emblems 
of fertility." — The Mythology of the Aryan 
Nations, Cox, 437. 

The O is the "golden egg" or the "serpent's egg," 
the Womb of Nature from which the universe is 
hatched ; an universal symbol. 

"The mystery of the apparent self-generation 
and evolution through its own creative power, 
repeating in miniature, in the egg, the process 
of cosmic evolution — both due to heat and 
moisture under the efflux of the unseen creative 
spirit — fully justified the selection of this graphic 
symbol. The 'Virgin-Egg' is the microcosmic 
symbol of the macrocosmic prototype, the 'Virgin 
Mother' — Chaos or the Primeval Deep. * * * 
Kosmos, as receptive Nature, is an egg fructified 
— yet left immaculate ; for once regarded as 
boundless, it could have no other representation 
than a spheroid." 1 

l S. D., I, 95. 



40 The Key to the Universe 

While the egg is a true symbol of all physical gen- 
eration, it is also a symbol of The Christ Seed within 
each heart. For within the spheroidal aura surround- 
ing each Soul like the shell of an egg, there is a germi- 
nal center, The Christ Seed, common to all his bodies — 
physical, astral, mental, etc. — which, like the germ 
center within the egg, gradually grows and unfolds 
until The Christ Man emerges. He is then just as 
much a new and altogether different expression of the 
Soul as is the chicken different from the egg when it 
emerges from its shell. 

"The Chinese believe that their First Man 
was horn from an Egg, which Tien dropped 
down from Heaven to Earth into the Waters. 
This egg-symbol is still regarded by some as 
representing the idea of the origin of life, which 
is a scientific truth, though the human ovum is 
invisible to the naked eye. * * * The Christians — 
especially the Greek and Latin Churches — have 
fully adopted the symbol, and see in it a com- 
memoration of life eternal, of salvation and of 
resurrection. This is found in, and corroborated 
by, the time-honored custom of exchanging 
'Easter-Eggs'. From the Anguinum, the 'Egg' 
of the Pagan Druid, whose name alone made 
Rome tremble with fear, to the red Easter Egg 
of the Slavonian peasant, a cycle has passed. And 
yet, whether in civilized Europe, or among the 
abject savages of Central America, we find the 
same archaic, primitive thought." 2 

Among the Greeks, Eros (Love) is poetically de- 
scribed as having issued from the Egg of Night as it 
floated on the waters of Chaos. Since Divine Love is 
the outbreathing whose vibrations quicken the Chaos 
of unmanifested life held within the mighty circle of 
the Great Deep, Eros, as the symbol of Love mani- 
festing on the physical plane, can indeed be said to issue 
from the Egg of Night. The goddess Venus, his 

1 S. D., I, 391-2-4. 



The O a ^ the Egg an & the Cat 41 

mother, is the Ruler of the planet Venus, the sister 
planet of our earth. 

"According to the Occult Doctrine, this Planet 
is our Earth's primary and its Spiritual proto- 
type." 3 

The planet Venus is so closely affinitized with our 
earth and so closely connected with its evolution, as 
with its birth, that it is said that every sin committed 
on earth is felt by its Guardian Spirit, also that every 
great regenerating or spiritual movement on earth, like 
a great wave of Love and helpfulness, is 1st commu> 
nicated to the Ruler of Earth by the Spirit of Venus. 
The sea-foam from which she is represented to have 
arisen was the result of the churning of the Great Deep 
as Chaos responded to the life-giving vibrations of 
Creative Love when the Word was spoken : "Let there 
be Light." 

It will be remembered, however, that Venus com- 
plained to Themis that her son Eros remained ever a 
child; in other words, human love remained undevel- 
oped. Themis assured Venus that this was because 
he was solitary, so soon afterward another son was 
born to Venus, whom she called Anteros. He is rep- 
resented both as the Avenger of slighted love and as 
symbolic of reciprocal affection. Themis, who in the 
myth is called Divine Justice, was the wife of Zeus and 
mother of the Fates, hence represents Karma, while 
Anteros is that aspect of Love which brings dire results 
when Love is degraded or unrequited. He is that as- 
pect of Love which enables the serpent to swallow its 
tail or the circle to be completed, that human love may 
once more be swallowed up in the ocean of Divine Love 
from whence it emerged. 

"Ra is shown like Brahma gestating in the Egg 
of the Universe * * *Among the Greeks the 

8 S. D., II, 34. 



42 The Key to the Universe 

Orphic Egg is described by Aristophanes, and 
was a part of the Dionysiac and other Mysteries, 
during which the Mundane Egg was consecrated 
and its significance explained ; Porphry also shows 
it to be a representation of the world." * 

The myth of Leda is another symbol of the feminine 
aspect of Divine Love, i. e., Libra, the Sheath of Venus, 
for she was visited by Zeus in the guise of a Swan (the 
Bird of Life) and is then said to have produced 2 eggs, 
from 1 of which Castor and Pollux — immortalized in 
the heavens as the sign Gemini, the Twins — were born, 
and from the other Helen, she for whose blandish- 
ments the Trojan War was waged. Thus does life 
bring forth from the great Mundane Egg, 1st, duality 
— Castor and Pollux symbolizing the intellectual facul- 
ties brought forth from an earthly mother and a Divine 
father, hence always vacillating and unbalanced — and 
2nd, Helen, the symbol of purely human love, beautiful, 
seductive and the stirrer up of strife and bloodshed 
among men. 

"As Bryant shows, it [the egg] was a symbol 
adopted among the Greeks, the Syrians, the Pers- 
ians and Egyptians. In the Egyptian Ritual, Seb, 
the God of Time and of the Earth, is spoken 
of as having laid an 'Egg conceived at the hour 
of the Great One of the Dual Force.' * * * 
Whence this universal symbol? The Egg was 
incorporated as a sacred sign in the Cosmogany 
of every people on the earth, and was revered 
both on account of its form and of its 
inner mystery. From the earliest mental concep- 
tions of man, it has been known as that which 
represented most successfully the origin and secret 
of Being. The gradual development of the imper- 
ceptible germ within the closed shell; the inward 
working, without any apparent outward interfer- 
ence of force, which from a latent nothing pro- 
duced an active something, needing naught save 
heat ; and which, having gradually evolved into a 

* S. D. I. 385. 



The O as the Eg£ an d the Cat 43 

concrete, living creature, broke its shell, appearing 
to the outward senses of all as a self-generated 
and self-created being; all this must have been a 
standing miracle from the beginning. 

"The Secret Teaching explains the reason for 
this reverence by the symbolism of the prehistoric 
races. In the beginnings, the 'First Cause' had no 
name. Later it was pictured in the fancy of the 
thinkers, as an ever invisible, mysterious Bird that 
dropped an Egg into Chaos, which Egg became 
the Universe. Hence Brahma was called Kala- 
hansa, the 'Swan in (Space and) Time'. Becom- 
ing the swan of Eternity, Brahma, at the begin- 
ning of each Mahamanvantara, lays a Golden Egg 
which typifies the Great Circle, or O, itself a 
symbol for the Universe and its spherical bodies." 5 

It was this mystery which was always presented to 
the candidates and explained during the Mysteries. 
While the myth of the Mundane Egg was used as an 
illustration to bring this great truth to their minds and 
make it a living reality in their hearts, they were 
taught that The Christ Seed or Egg was dropped by 
the Heavenly Dove — call it Bird of Life, Parahamsa, 
Holy Ghost, or what you will — in the nest of their 
hearts, which they themselves had to build, purify and 
prepare for its reception. Hence only as they made 
conditions possible for this Divine Bird to hover over 
them and find a nesting place in their hearts, could she 
lay and hatch out the Egg. After the Egg was hatched 
the Heavenly Dove brought daily to her nestlings the 
heavenly food, Mother-love, on which they could feed 
and flourish. Also as she made her home in the heart 
and soared into the heaven world, she created a spiral 
of magnetic life-force over which the fledgling candi- 
date could consciously ascend and gather the experi- 
ence of the higher realms. This is what is meant when 
we are told : "Bestride the Bird of Life." 

'The engraving of a papyrus in Kircher's 
OEdipus Egyptiacus, shows an egg floating above 

■ S. D., I, 384-5. 



44 The Key to the Universe 

the mummy. This is the symbol of hope and 
the promise of a Second Birth for the Osirified 
Dead ; his Soul, after due purification in Amenti, 
will gestate in this Egg of Immortality, to be 
reborn therefrom into a new life on earth. For 
this Egg, in the Esoteric Doctrine, is Devachan, 
the Abode of Bliss, the Winged Scarabaeus also 
being another symbol of it. The Winged Globe 
is but another form of the Egg and has the 
same significance." 6 

"A second reason for the Egg having been 
chosen as the symbolical representation of the 
Universe, and of our Earth, was its form. It 
was a Circle and a Sphere; and the ovi-form 
shape of our Globe must have been known from 
the beginning of symbology, since it was so 
universally adopted." ' 

"The symbol of an egg also expresses the fact 
taught in Occultism that the primordial form of 
everything manifested, from atom to globe, from 
man to angel, is spheroidal, the sphere being with 
all nations the emblem of eternity and infinity— 
a serpent swallowing its tail." 8 

It is a scientific fact that in nature all eggs and most 
seeds, in which the future animal, plant or man is 
latent, are either circular or more or less modified 
spheroids in shape. This is a scientific corroboration 
of the occult teaching that the origins of all forms of 
manifested life are spheroidal, "from the birth of new 
Worlds out of central suns, down to the microscopic 
cells of which all flesh is grown. * * * Our word 
'cell' is the Celtic name of 'Heaven,' Cel, and this con- 
tinuous birth of cell from cell was identical with Deity, 
Church and priesthood — all belonging to the one system 
for continuous gift and parturition." 9 Even the astral 
manifestations in a seance room, prior to their ethe- 
realization or materialization, appear as globes of light 
of more or less brilliancy. 

8 5. D., I, 391. 8 5. D., I, 94. 

T 5. D., I, 384-5. 8 The Jarvis Letters, xi. 



The O as the Egg an d the Cat 45 

THE O AND TH E CAT. 

The cat, owing to its habit of curling up in a circle 
with its tail around its head — to give but 1 reason — 
was considered as a symbol of the O- Hence, just as 
the O contains within itself the life and power of the 
9 digits, so the cat is said to have 9 lives. The term 
"lives" however, was originally not taken in its literal 
sense, but as referring to the 9 manifestations of the 
1 Life-current represented in the 9 digits. 

"The Goddess Basht, or Pasht, was represented 
with the head of a cat. This animal was held 
sacred for several reasons. It was the symbol of 
the Moon, the 'Eye of Osiris' or the 'sun', during 
night. The cat was also sacred to Sokhit. One 
of the mystic reasons was because of its body 
being rolled up in a circle when asleep. The 
posture is prescribed for occult and magnetic 
purposes, * * * the circulation of the vital fluid, 
with which the cat is pre-eminently endowed. The 
'nine lives of a cat' is a popular saying based 
on good physiological and occult reasons. 10 

"Thus, the God Shoo, the personification of Ra, 
who appears as the 'Great Cat' of the Basin 
of Perssea in An, was often represented in Egyp- 
tian monuments seated and holding a cross * * * 
attached to a circle." " 

Among the Egyptians the cat was held sacred not 
only because it slept in the form of a O or > as many 
suppose, because of its ability to see in the dark, but 
because of its association with the Goddess Basht and 
the moon. This relation has been explained by Pro- 
fessor Max Muller as due to the fact that the eyes of 
the cat become full orbed and grow most luminous in 
the dark, and also because the moon was the Seer by 
night in the heavens. The esoteric reason, however, 
is the ability of the cat to give out large quantities of 
animal magnetism and physical life-force, as can so 
easily be proved by stroking a cat in the dark. The 

» S. D., II, 583. " S. D., II, 576. 



46 The Key to the Universe 

Egyptians knew that this magnetism was but the outer 
manifestation of the life-force and that under proper 
treatment this life-force could be given out so as to 
be absorbed by man. They understood the law that 
only through kindness and love could man make the 
lower kingdoms yield him their forces in such a way 
as to aid his own development. Hence, large numbers 
of cats were kept in the temples and treated with 
great care, that they might supply the Priests and 
Seers with purified and harmonized animal magnetism 
which certain of their duties and exercises abstracted 
from their bodies. This use of the cat is probably the 
origin of the superstition that a witch always had a 
"familiar spirit" in the form of a black cat, as the 
magnetism could of course be put to unholy as well 
as holy uses. Also by observing them many auguries 
were made, and much esoteric knowledge was deduced 
from their disposition and actions which would sur- 
prise the modern scholars who think of the cat only 
as a mouse-catcher and midnight prowler. 

In the ancient ruins called Tell Basta near Zagazig 
a cemetery has been found devoted exclusively to 
mummified cats. In the tombs of Beni Hasan and else- 
where are found quantities of small images, not only 
of Isis, Osiris and Horus, but also of the cat sitting in 
watchful attitude, its eyes always prominent no matter 
how small or crude the image. These images are 
often strung on chains with mummy beads and 
wrapped in the folds of the mummy cloths. Such 
images were not used for mere decoration as many 
think, but because the cat was looked upon as the 
"Watcher of the Night," not only owing to its ability 
to see in the dark, but also because of its extreme 
sensitiveness to all astral influences and its unmistak- 
able ability to see astral entities. Cats were made 
household pets and closely watched so the owner might 



The O as rt ie Egg an ^ ^ e C ai 47 

be warned of the approach of undesirable astral forces 
and entities which he would then proceed to exorcise. 
They were placed in the tomb with the mummy for the 
same purpose, i. e., to watch over the deceased and 
warn him of evil influences in the nether world. 

Among the Egyptians, "The male Cat is Ra himself, 
and he is called 'Mau' by reason of the speech of the 
God Sa, (who said) covering him: 'He is like unto 
that which he hath made' ; thus his name became 
'MaauV 12 

In Ireland and Scotland it is the common belief that 
a 3 colored cat (tortoise-shell) brings good fortune, 
hence if such a cat attaches itself to a home it is con- 
sidered a sign of great good luck. The selection of 
this particular kind of a cat is based upon the 3 colors 
combined in its fur, namely, black, white and yellow, 
thus showing that the ancient Celts had a practical 
understanding of both color and number. It was also 
held that the 3 colored cat was an aid to the unfold- 
ment of the astral senses or "second-sight," the black 
aiding clairvoyance, the yellow clairsentience and the 
white ability to receive spiritual inspiration and proph- 
esy. For these reasons a 3 colored kitten was often 
given to a child as a constant companion and playmate, 
believing that it would enable the child to see in the 3 
worlds. Much of the psychic ability of the "canny 
Scot" is attributed to this custom. 

In The Jarvis Letters previously referred to, the 
Great Cat or Lion is connected with the Jews and 
Judah as follows : "Our big CAT lion made the whole 
cat family sacred as a record-name ; our Celtic CAT 
naming the House or Family of Deity, and her picture 
always named the Moon goddess, she being specially 
identified with astronomy, being addressed on the walls 
of Thebes as, 'O thou great CAT, thou who canst see 
at night.' * * * This Lion represents the deity 

13 Book of the Dead, xvii. 



48 The Key to the Universe 

and the priesthood, always identified with these nam- 
ings. This sitting L-ION has the same posture as 
the lion Sphinx whose Egyptian name is H - U-piter, 
or H U - father. The H U, or J U, named all the J U - 
peoples of Denmark, America, England and Syria, and 
the Lion of J U D A was the biblical sign-name of the 
Hebrews or J U s." 13 It will be remembered that in 
Revelation 1 * it was only this Great Cat or Lion which 
was found worthy to open the Book of Life and loose 
its 7 seals, i. e., only the ability to see in the darkness 
of earth conditions the heavenly visions ; the ability 
to store up and give out to the Race the Divine Life- 
force; the ability to manifest the powers of the 9 
digits latent in the O ; and the ability consciously to 
cope with all astral conditions, make of man the Lion 
of the Tribe of Judah and enable him to unloose the 
7 Seals and open the Book of Life. At the opening of 
the 5th Seal there was a plague of locusts having lions' 
teeth; at the opening of the 6th Seal horses appeared 
having lions' heads, and when the 7 thunders uttered 
their voices they roared as a lion, all of which points 
out to the world the old esoteric doctrine that man 
becomes the Lion only when he has completed his O 
and reached number 10; also that it is man himself, 
while passing through the lower phases of animal pas- 
sion, who brings to the Race the 7 plagues, judgments, 
cataclysms, etc. Hence only when the lion and the 
lamb can lie down together and submit to the leading 
of The Christ-child, can the Lion of the Tribe of Judah 
find his true place in the perfect city of the New Jeru- 
salem, number 12. 

18 The Jarvis Letters, Chapter ii. u Chapter v, 5. 



CHAPTER 4 

THE O As THE AURA AND THE RING PASS NOT. 

"Just as the Square is the symbol of the 
Four sacred Forces or Powers, Tetraktys, * * * 
so the Circle shows the boundary within Infinity 
that no man, even in spirit, or Deva or Dhyan 
Chohan can cross." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 159. 

Applied to man the O symbolizes the sacred Auric 
Egg which envelops him 

"like the yolk of an egg (the future embryo) by 
the albumen and shell. This to the perceptions 
of higher Beings from other planes, makes of 
each individuality an oval sphere of more or less 
radiancy." * 

The esoteric teaching is that after its involution into 
matter, the evolution of each Soul takes place along a 
spiral pathway within a series of concentric spheres 
of differing densities, whose centers are all within the 
physical shell, corresponding to the concentric globes 
forming the Earth Chain, the finer interpenetrating all 
the denser. Since the law followed by the cosmic is 
also followed by the individual manifestation, we refer 
the reader to what we have said elsewhere concerning 
those interpenetrating spheres, as it describes the cor- 
responding make up of man's Aura. 2 

When the Soul has manifested the most essential 
and characteristic possibilities of the smallest, inmost 
and densest sphere of the aura, it breaks through that 
confining shell following a spiral path, and is born into 
a larger sphere of consciousness, being or orbit of evo- 
lution, whose forces will aid in perfecting and com- 

1 S. D., Ill, 440. * V. of I., 207-8. 



50 The Key to the Universe 

pleting the possibilities of the former sphere. For in- 
stance, as long as man's consciousness responds only 
to the sense impressions from the physical world he is 
confined within that sphere of matter and consciousness 
which vibrates to the physical plane. But as soon as 
his sense organs are attuned to the vibrations of the 
next finer and larger sphere of substance and con- 
sciousness, which surrounds and interpenetrates the 
lesser, he is born into the astral world or sphere of his 
aura, called "The Hall of Learning," and so on into 
the still higher spheres. Only when man is able to 
vibrate in unison with all the spheres which surround 
him, and has brought into expression the potencies of 
them all, has he completed his evolution of man as 
man. 

Physical man, and the physical globe, like a seed 
or egg, therefore contains within him, in germ, all the 
forces, powers and materials necessary for him to mani- 
fest his godlike possibilities. But this physical seed of 
the Real Man stands in the center of 7 concentric 
spheres, in each of which certain of his possibilities 
must manifest. And to evolve into and manifest in 
these various spheres the shell of his physical limita- 
tions, like the shell of the egg or seed, must be opened 
through the growth of the germ already present within 
that shell. To more fully explain this point and empha- 
size the importance of the teaching, we quote from The 
Voice of Isis. "Undeveloped man responds chiefly to 
the vibrations of the physical globe, those things which 
he can see, hear, taste, handle, etc., and cannot compre- 
hend or function in the globes belonging to the psychic 
and spiritual planes. * * * Man must ultimately 
function and gain experience on all seven globes at the 
same time, checking up, balancing and perfecting the 
experience of one by that gained on the other, thus 
rounding out his seven-fold nature into the Real Man. 



The O a s th e Aura and the Ring Pass Not 51 

Only thus can he gain Mastery over the portion of 
goods given him by his Father-in-heaven." 3 As it 
contains in potentiality all that his later evolution can 
unfold in any 1 cycle of manifestation, man's aura may 
be compared to a school-boy's trunk packed for a dis- 
tant journey; for it contains all the goods given him 
by his father, together with the provisions necessary 
for the journey itself. 
The aura is called the 

'"Luminous Egg' (Hiranyagarbha), or the in- 
visible magnetic sphere in which every man is 
enveloped. (So are the animals, the plants, and 
even the minerals.) It is the direct emanation: 
(a) from the Atmic Ray in its triple aspect of 
Creator, Preserver and Destroyer (Regenerator) ; 
and (b) from Buddhi-Manas. The seventh aspect 
of this individual Aura is the faculty of assum- 
ing the form of its body and becoming the 
'Radiant', the Luminous Augoeides. It is this, 
strictly speaking, which at times becomes the 
form called Mayavi Rupa. It is also the material 
from which the Adept forms his Astral Bodies, 
from the Augoeides and the Mayavi Rupa down- 
wards." * 

Just as the decimal system was formerly esoteric, 
so was all information concerning the nature of the 
aura until some time after the teachings concerning it 
were brought to the Western world by Mme. Blavat- 
sky. There is always, however, a good and wise reason 
for thus guarding certain truths from 1 generation and 
revealing them to a subsequent. Since the days of the 
Atlanteans, when much dangerous knowledge was ex- 
tant concerning the performance of magic, the aura has 
been known to be the storehouse of the forces called 
into activity in magical procedures. And because of 
the degrading use (black magic) made of this knowl- 
edge by those who used it unlawfully, those who faith- 
fully follow their Divine Instructors are carefully 

• V. of I., 208-9. * S. D., Ill, 445-6. 



52 The Key to the Universe 

taught the responsibility incurred by those who pub- 
licly give out information likely to bring upon mankind 
a catastrophe similar to that which destroyed Atlantis. 
But in the present age, when there is a tendency among 
certain classes of scholars to decry the existence or 
possibility of what is called Magic and belittle the 
necessity of understanding the Mysteries, it is the pol- 
icy of the Great Teachers to stimulate such lines of 
investigation by revealing certain ancient truths long 
hidden from the general public. The Great Law today 
is just as inexorable as in former ages, and no fire- 
brand of esoteric knowledge will be given directly to 
man. The way to the higher knowledge may be 
pointed out. The Great Teachers may say, "Search 
here," but only the diligent and the pure in heart, the 
true and the faithful will be given knowledge which, 
in the hands of the ignorant, the ambitious or the im- 
pure, might be turned to the injury and degradation 
of the Race. This is why only by the general advance 
of the Race can the hidden things of 1 cycle, as evolu- 
tion unfolds mankind, become the revealed of succeed- 
ing cycles. It is the same law by which the inner and 
hidden petals of a rose are revealed only as the flower 
as a whole advances in its unfoldment. And just as 
the evolving Soul steps over his Ring Pass Not only 
as he vibrates to the rate of the larger sphere, so with 
the Race. 

As we have said elsewhere: "In another sense the 
circle is the (individual) Ring Pass Not (the limit of 
the auric zone) which every true disciple should put 
around himself, and whose Gates (corresponding to 
the centers of the body) he must open and close at will 
to admit or exclude that which he chooses." 5 This 
Ring is a boundary which separates each of the con- 
centric spheres mentioned above, from the next finer, 
but is a Ring Pass Not to the substance and conscious- 

6 V. of I., 414. 



The O &* the Aura and the Ring Pass Not 53 

ness of the denser sphere only until the vibrations of 
the latter have been raised to harmonize or become 1 
with the rate of the finer sphere, whereupon there is 
no barrier between the 2. It is because of this Ring 
Pass Not, like a shell around every sphere, that at 
every decisive step from 1 sphere of consciousness to 
the next higher, the student is met with the axiom 
"Know Thyself." For the knowledge of the Self must 
include a knowledge of how to raise the vibrations of 
the sphere in which the aspirant is manifesting until 
they become 1 with those of the higher sphere which 
he desires to enter. Each student must live his life 
from within and unfold his possibilities through his 
own efforts and through the bringing into manifesta- 
tion of the powers which each has in potentiality 
within. 

This is the basic reason why we oppose all negative 
forms of abnormally breaking through the Ring by the 
aid of alcohol, drugs or psychic forces invoked while 
in a negative state. 6 As we have explained elsewhere : 
"Another way in which the doors (of the aura or 
Ring) are frequently broken open is by placing your- 
self in a passive, non-resisting state and making the 
demand for psychic experiences, or sitting for devel- 
opment as it is called (something quite different from 
entering the silence for spiritual communion). In this 
practice you are placing yourself in such a negative 
state that any entity dwelling even on the lower astral- 
plane can help you break open the doors. This either 
destroys the doors or abnormally forces the develop- 
ment of the psychic centers instead of unfolding them 
as a natural accompaniment of spiritual growth." 7 

In 1 sense the aura is the Holy Ghost, the sin 
against which is the perversion of the auric forces and 

6 It is a reprehensible practice among some mediums to take a 
glass of whiskey before going into the cabinet, even though better 
phenomena are produced as a result. See The Life of James (Farmer) 
Riley, Vlerebone, 102-3, where his astral guide recommends the prac- 
tice. This is one of the reasons why many mediums ultimately become 
the victims of alcoholism. 

7 This matter is fully discussed in The Voice of Isis in the chapter 
of "Narcotics, Alcohol and Psychism." 



54 The Key to the Universe 

the destruction of the centers. While each individual 
and each globe has its Ring Pass Not, it is the Ring 
Pass Not of the Cosmos which is referred to in the 
quotation which heads this chapter, and also in the 
following : 

"No spirits except the 'Recorders' (Lipika) 
have ever crossed the forbidden line of the 
Ring, nor will any do so until the day of the 
next Pralaya, for it is the boundary that sep- 
arates the Finite — however infinite in man's sight 
— from the truly Infinite." s 

From 1 all that has been said we see that the O as a 
symbol of the Source from which all manifestation 
proceeds, is no arbitrary or man-made symbol, but is 
inherent in Nature herself. Therefore let the circle 
remind you that you have the potency and power of 
the Unmanifested overshadowing you ; that you are 
dwelling in a mighty sphere of unmanifested powers 
which it is your duty to understand, unfold and 
bring into manifestation ere you can pass through 
the evolution of the numerals and reach the per- 
fection of your cycle of manifestation in number 10. 
Let it remind you of the source from whence you 
have received the portion of goods given you by your 
Father-in-heaven ere you took your journey into this 
far country of material embodiment, and that these 
goods are the materials out of which you must furnish 
your mansion in heaven or the immortal, spiritual ve- 
hicle which you must ultimately attain ere you can 
manifest the Real Self or the God-within on all planes. 

8 S. D., I., 157. 



CHAPTER 5 

THE SYMBOL OF THE Q. 

"The Infinite was entirely unknown and diffused 
no light before the luminous point violently broke 
through into vision." — Zohar. 

"The Monad, or Point, is the original and is 
the Unit from which follows the entire numeral 
system." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 459-60. 

The point within the circle Q is a symbol which 
must be considered both with the O an d the 1 as it 
is the connecting link between the 2. The Dot within 
the circle is the 1st manifestation of the latent Deity 
or Deity in activity, the 1st Cause; Unity within 
Eternity, the 1st differentiation from the homogeneous 
state represented by the circle. 

"In the metaphysical world, the Circle with its 
one central Point in it has no number, and is 
called Anupadaka — parentless and numberless, for 
it can fall under no calculation * * * It is * * * a 
center of energy, which I shall for the present call 
the Logos. * * * It is called the Verbum * * * 
by the Christians, and it is the divine Christos 
who is eternal in the bosom of his Father." * 

"In him is an illimitable abyss of glory, and from it 
there goeth forth one little spark which maketh all the 
glory of the sun, and of the moon, and of the stars." 2 

The Dot within the circle is the Causal Soul or per- 
sonal god of each individual, while the Higher Self is 
the Causal Soul enriched by the experiences garnered 
by the personalities in which it incarnates life after 
life, and stored up as individuality in the Higher Self. 

1 S. D., I., 118-155. 

1 An ancient oracle quoted in The Kabbalah Unveiled, 19-20. 



56 The Key to the Universe 

In the individual man the Dot is the manifestation of 
the Ray shot out in the beginning from 1 of the 7 
Elohim (the 7 Flames), and becomes the Creative Dot 
in that individual, which remains throughout the en- 
tire Kalpa as a nucleus and overshadowing Principle. 
This Dot periodically sends down its 1 Ray into mani- 
festation through a personality. For a Ray must incar- 
nate again and again until all the experiences repre- 
sented by the cycle of numbers from 1 to 9 are stored 
up in the Higher Self. Thus the Dot and the 1 with 
the O together make the Higher Self (10). It is 
the potency of this Dot in all the numbers, stimulated 
by the overshadowing of the Dot itself, which causes 
their evolution or unfoldment. In turn this Dot in the 
individual is overshadowed by the Causal Soul of the 
Universe. This is not the Absolute or Causeless 
Cause, the fathomless Eternal, but is that which the 
Christians call God, the Lord, and the Hindus Ishvara, 
the Lord. 

If we consider the Dot as a bright flame in the cen- 
ter of a circle, or say the pure white light of the sun 
in the center of the zodiac, as the sun sends forth its 
rays they manifest the 7 colors of the spectrum, and 
as each ray touches the circumference it makes a Dot 
of its own color. The sun in the center will therefore 
represent the Higher Self or the Divine Dot, while the 
many lesser dots on the circumference will represent 
its many personalities, each manifesting but 1 shade 
of the central Light, and each becoming pure white 
light only as all are indrawn into the center. The en- 
tire circle will then become a globe of pure white radi- 
ance and take its place in turn as a dot upon the cir- 
cumference of a still mightier circle whose center is 
God. 

In the case of an Avatar it is this overshadowing 
Dot or Causal Soul of the Universe which sends into 



The Symbol of the Q 57 

manifestation a 1, the Son, who united with the 
Father, becomes not 1 of the 7 Rays or Flames (Elo- 
him), but the 1 Great Ray in which all the 7 Rays 
are united. Hence all Avatars are like pearls strung 
on this mighty manifestation of the 1 God, just as all 
the lives of an individual are strung upon the individu- 
alized Ray from 1 of the 7 Elohim, the Higher Self. 

Speaking of an ancient record written on palm 
leaves and illustrating the symbology of primordial 
beginnings, Mme. Blavatsky says : 

"On the first page in an immaculate white disk 
within a dull black ground. On the following 
page, the same disk, hut with a central point. 
The first, the student knows, represents Kosmos 
in Eternity, before the reawakening of still 
slumbering Energy, the Emanation of the World 
in later systems. The point in the hitherto im- 
maculate disk, Space and Eternity in Pralaya, 
denotes the dawn of differentiation. It is the 
Point in the Mundane Egg, the Germ within it 
which will become the Universe, the All, the 
boundless, periodical Kosmos." 3 

The O i s tne universal hieroglyph of the sun in the 
center of the zodiac, the manifestor and giver of light, 
life and energy to its system. It also represents Jacob 
in the midst of his 12 sons and Jesus in the midst of 
his 12 disciples. Among the Egyptians the Dot or Sun 
is Ra, and in the Book of the Dead is thus described : 
"I am Ra at his first appearance. I am the great god, 
self-reproduced; his Names together compose the cycle 
of the gods. * * * O Ra, in thine Egg, who risest 
up in thine orb, and shinest from thine Horizon." 4 In 
a later chapter Ra makes a prayer as follows : "I shine 
forth out of the Egg which is in the unseen (unmani- 
fested) world. * * * Let not mine hand be re- 
pulsed by the Divine Circle of the great god. * * * 
I am come to do the will of my heart, out of the abode 
of Flame, which I extinguished when I came forth." 5 

s S. D., I, 31. 5 Chapter xxii. 

* Chapter xvii. 



58 The Key to the Universe 

This symbol also has its reflection or correspondence 
in Nature as the nucleus in the egg. The nucleus has 
the same significance as the Dot and the sun, i. e., the 
Source of Life to its system, for without the vitalizing, 
creative power emanating from its nucleus no egg 
could be fructified or developed. The Druids taught 
this same mystery by their symbolic dance around what 
later came to be the May-pole. As we have said else- 
where: "In the later symbolism the dance was per- 
formed around the sacred oak and still later, if an 
oak was not available, the masculine principle of fire 
or the sun was symbolized by the upright May-pole, 
while the feminine principle was indicated by the circle 
drawn on the ground, the two having the same signifi- 
cance, as a creative symbol, as the dot within the circle 
or the lingam and the yoni, all of which later became 
degraded into objects of phallic worship. * * * 
Therefore, just as the Christian ceremonies of Easter 
bring to our mind the great cosmic fact of the resur- 
rection of the sun or the renewal of the life-force (The 
Christ-force) of nature from the tomb of winter, as 
well as the personal significance of the resurrection of 
The Christ in each heart, so the bonfires and May- 
poles, with their attendant dances and ceremonials, had 
the same double significance and symbolized the same 
grand truths to the early inhabitants of Ireland, Britain 
and Gaul, i. e., that the masculine Principle of Fire had 
again descended to fructify Mother Earth that she 
might bring forth her increase." 6 "The dot in the 
center is always a small circle in the old picture-writ- 
ing, and its present name as the DO-T names the 
'Gift God.' In the Indian sign-language the interior 
small circle names the Son of the Mother, or any 'De- 
scendant,' which is its meaning today in the Celtic 
alphabet." 7 

• See lesson The Mystic Oak. ' The Jarvis Letters, xi. 



The Symbol of the Q 59 

"Philosophy, however, could never have found 
its conception of a logical, universal and absolute 
Deity, if it had had no Mathematical Point within 
the Circle upon which to base its speculations. It 
is only the manifested Point, lost to our senses 
after its pregenetic appearance in the infinitude 
and incognizability of the Circle, that makes a 
reconciliation between Philosophy and Theology 
possible — on condition that the latter should aban- 
don its crude materialistic dogmas." 8 

We may think of our aura as a circle, but we should 
think of our Higher Self as the Dot or God within 
this circle; the manifested Source from whence ema- 
nates the Light, Life and Love of our existence. And 
only because of that Source within have we the power 
to bring into manifestation and evolve the inchoate 
forces which we find within the circle of our Being. 
Hence only when we realize and manifest the power 
of the indwelling creative Dot to bring forth and use, 
to the limits of our circle of manifestation, all that is 
contained therein, can we become the true I. Every 
unit of life is the center or Dot of its own universe 
(circle), has its own sphere of activity and influence 
and rate of vibration, and is its own center of cosmic 
energy; a microcosm, an individualized reflection in 
time and space of the 1 Life of the Q- 

The Dot may also be looked upon as the Spiritual 
Star of Initiation which overshadows the Candidate 
from the time when the spiritual Light "broke through 
into vision" or was born in his consciousness. But we 
become aware of it only when we look toward it, feel 
its life-giving warmth and see its Light streaming 
down upon us and forming the straight and narrow 
Path (number 1) that leadeth unto salvation (Mas- 
tery). 

Looked at from above, the Dot is seen to be the end 
of the axis of a sphere, or an aspect of number 1. It 

» S. D., I, 672-3. 



60 The Key to the Universe 

appears within the circle when the World Mother 
breathes upon the waters of Chaos. 

Let the Dot within the circle remind you that no 
matter how dark and chaotic the circle of your life 
may seem, you have within you the Dot of pure, white, 
spiritual light, the Sun of your Soul whose rays can 
unfold and illumine every condition in your life and 
help you to manifest their highest possibilities, if you 
will but open the door of your heart and let them in. 
But only as you fearlessly and determinedly and from 
the Christ-consciousness within say, "Let there be 
light," understanding all that this implies 9 and all that 
will result, can its force start the circle of darkness or 
chaos in your spiritual life to revolving, and the Spirit 
of God — the white Dot or Dove — move on the troubled 
waters of your life and evolve into the 1, and then on 
through the rest of the decade back to oneness with the 
O in the number 10. Do not be appalled at that which 
the Light reveals within you, for the so-called things 
of evil, those which are unredeemed, will 1st be stirred 
up that they may come into the Light and be trans- 
muted, spiritualized and redeemed. Remember the 
divine Dot or Spiritual Sun within must shine if evo- 
lution is to take place. 

* See The Symbology of the Light, Chapter xxiv, The Voice of I sis. 



CHAPTER 6 

THE NUMBER 1. 

"O descendant of Bharata ! see wonders in 
numbers, unseen before. Within my body, O 
Gudakesa ! See today the whole universe, includ- 
ing every thing movable and immovable, all in 
one." — Bhagavad Gita, XI. 

"The sacredness of numbers begins with the 
great First — the ONE, and ends only with the 
nought or zero — symbol of the infinite and bound- 
less circle which represents the universe. All the 
intervening figures, in whatever combination, or 
however multiplied, represent philosophical ideas, 
from vague outlines down to a definitely-estab- 
lished Scientific axiom, relating either to a moral 
or a physical fact in nature." 

— I sis Unveiled, Blavatsky, II, 407. 

As we have said elsewhere : "All even numbers are 
mundane and pertain to the physical plane, while all 
odd numbers are Divine. They contain something 
which cannot be measured by the two forces, positive 
and negative, always operative on the physical plane. 
Among the Pythagoreans odd numbers were connected 
with the major deities, while even numbers were as- 
signed to the inferior and terrestrial gods." x In the 
Yi-King, an ancient Chinese book on symbolism refer- 
ring to cosmogony and man and to the purposes of life, 
the initial symbols used are Yang (male) and Yin (fe- 
male). Yang is associated with heaven, the sun, light 
and odd numbers, while Yin is associated with the 
moon, the earth, darkness and even numbers. 

Odd numbers are considered sacred because when 
we attempt to divide them into equal parts they leave 

1 V. of I., 160. 



62 The Key to the Universe 

the Monad or the 1 God standing unaffected between 
them, thus: 3=1 + 1 + 1, 5=2+1+2, 7=3+1+3, 
etc. Thus they reveal the Supreme Deity in the midst 
of His works. Even numbers are those which can be 
divided into 2 equal parts without revealing the 1 God 
in their midst. When odd numbers are divided 1 part 
will always be odd — representing the Divine — and 1 
even — representing the manifestation of the Divine, 
i.e., 7=3 (the Divine) plus 4 (the mundane). The 
most potent odd numbers are composed of trinities, 
each of which is odd, thus: 3=3><1, 9=3X3, 15= 
3X5, 21=3X7, 27=3X9, etc. While even numbers 
can always be measured by the "pairs of opposites," 
they can also be separated (except 2 which is simply 
2 unities) into 2 equal and 2 or more unequal parts, 
thus, 10=5+5, also 1+9, 3+7, 2+8. Even numbers 
whose equal divisions can be further divided into equal 
parts are called "evenly even." For example 2, 4, 8, 
16, 32, 64, etc. Those even numbers whose equal 
divisions cannot be further divided into equal parts 
are called "evenly odd." For example 6, 10, 14, 28, 
56, etc. 

"We now come to the consideration of the first 
Sephira, or the Number One, the Monad of Pytha- 
goras. In this number are the other nine hidden. It 
is indivisible, it is also incapable of multiplication ; 
divide 1 by itself and it still remains 1, multiply 1 by 
itself and it is still 1 and unchanged. Thus it is a fit- 
ting representative of the great unchangeable Father 
of all." 2 

Number 1 is the symbol of Unity, Indivisibility, Indi- 
viduality. It is that which is born from Spirit, (the 
Dot), and is therefore Divine. "For God is Superla- 
tive in his Unity, there is none equal unto him : what 
number canst thou place before 1 ?" 3 It is Primordial 
Substance undifferentiated, also Cosmic Ideation. 



* Kabbalah Unveiled. Mathers, 22. 

* Sepher Yetsirah, I, 7. 



The Number 1 63 

Since 1 stands by itself and is indivisible, it is consid- 
ered no number, but represents perfection, harmony, 
order, good and God. It is the only number that does 
not have 1 aspect above or pertaining to the heavens 
and 1 lower pertaining to the earth. It symbolizes the 
Deity descending to earth in an undifferentiated state, 
the 1 God, without attributes. It also symbolizes the 
descent of the Light when, at the beginning of the 
cycle of manifestation of this system, the 1st Day of 
Creation, the gods — the 7 fold Elohim — said: "Let 
there be light," and the Dot within the circle sent forth 
its Ray to manifest in matter. It is the descent of the 
creative aspect of the 1 Life, the Christ-power, into 
Chaos that Chaos might become Cosmos, evolve and 
be redeemed. 

Number 1 represents the principle of Unity which 
underlies all numbers. By multiplication it creates all 
others, but multiplied by itself to infinity it always re- 
tains its unity. 

Since it is the 1st manifestation of the Unmanifested, 
1 represents the unity of all forms of life in the 1 Life, 
or the Brotherhood of Man and Nature. This is the 
mathematical basis for what we have said elsewhere :* 
"All life comes from the One Life of the Absolute and 
normally should evolve back to God in perfect purity 
and harmony." "As all Souls are but differing expres- 
sions of the One Life, each must bring back into the 
One Life a special experience. Unity does not mean 
an everlasting recurrence of one experience for all, but 
all experiences in the One. As each different part of 
the body has its own function, the experience of which 
is subject to and is registered in the brain — the sum 
total of the experiences of all organs and parts being 
necessary to complete a Man — so are all Soul-experi- 
ences comprised in the One Life." 5 It is Unity but 
not uniformity. 

* V. of I., 225. « V. of I., 285. 



64 The Key to the Universe 

The number 1 also symbolizes Adam Kadmon, the 
1st man. Since man is the only erect animal, the only 
1 whose spinal column is vertical instead of horizontal, 
1 symbolizes man's power to stand erect, also his up- 
rightness of both body and character. It also symbol- 
izes the straight and narrow Path which the person- 
ality must follow to reach the Divine or Christ-con- 
sciousness. It is the line of spiritual aspiration which 
must ascend from the heart of man to unite the human 
with the Divine. It is the line whose continuation 
unites the personality (the little i) with the Higher 
Self (the Dot) to form the Real Self; the silver thread 
which unites us with the Master; the unity of man 
with God, the capital I which can stand alone. Jesus 
expressed this same idea when He said: "I and my 
Father are 1." 

Script letters are symbols which have been so modi- 
fied by modern ideas that they have little occult signifi- 
cance, yet they do express the idea of dependence one 
upon the other, a late development of tribal and com- 
munity life. So, to merge the little i into the I we 
must learn to stand alone, for the i could never become 
the I until it had ceased to depend on others for its 
meaning. As the personality learns to stand alone 
and ascend the straight and narrow Path and merges 
into the overshadowing Dot, the Dot spreads out as 
sheltering wings above, fills out and enlarges and also 
makes a firm foundation below, thus I. When the little 
i has reached up to the Dot in the center of its orbit, 
has become the I and is able to stand alone in the 
presence of the Master, it must then "do the works of 
its Father in Heaven" or continue the extension of the 
Path in the higher realms and complete the diameter 

of the circle thus : (^fy(fYT) Number 1 



The Number i 65 

also symbolizes the Magic Wand with which the 
magician performs his Great Work. 

Among man's 7 principles 1 represents Atma, the 
Ray from the Divine, 1 with the Father, through which 
man becomes 1 with the All. 

Like the Q>, number 1 is a natural geometric fig- 
ure. For, using our previous symbol of the sphere, 
if any line of force, either from within or from with- 
out, acts upon it, it will begin to revolve and thus 
generate an axis, or the vertical line which bisects the 
circle ® forming the figure 1. Therefore no other 
figure could be the ist of the numerical system, for 1 
is the figure generated by the 1st manifestation of 
motion in the Cosmos. 1 is positive and masculine in 
its characteristics, as it is the outgoing Ray of the 
Divine proceeding from the negative or subjective into 
the positive or objective life. This symbolism of the 
number 1 is confirmed in nature. In animal life we 
find in the developing egg a straight line, called "the 
primitive streak," as the 1st positive sign of the char- 
acter of the future form and the forerunner of the 
spinal column ; the positive, supporting factor that 
enables it to stand erect. In vegetable life we find 
that out of the heart of the seed (its Dot within the 
encircling husk) the 1st manifestation of life causes a 
sprout to shoot upward and a tap-root downward, as 
the positive and negative expressions of the Dot. These 
burst the shell or husk and form a straight vertical 
line which bisects the seed and enables the plant to 
stand alone as an independent manifesting individual 
or 1. 

Whenever your attention is called to the number 1, 
let it remind you of the 1 God, the 1 Life ; the oneness 
of mankind or the Brotherhood of Man ; the power of 
Selfhood ; of self-reliance, dignity, rulership ; the 
Wand of the Magician, the Rod of Power ; the power 



66 The Key to the Universe 

to bring forth the Self from the divine Dot within, 
through the all-embracing power of the circle. Let it 
remind you of the unity of nature, man and God; the 
union of the human with the Divine through the fol- 
lowing of the straight and narrow Path upward until 
the personality is merged into the Father-in-heaven, 
and you can say with Jesus, "I and my Father are 1." 



CHAPTER 7 

the 1st letter, Aleph (N). 

"All Hebrew letters contain a number, a hiero- 
glyph, a symbol, and a place. To know these in 
their relation to each other, and to numbers, is 
to hold in the hands the chart that will guide 
us unerringly across the ocean of ignorance into 
the 'Thirty-Two Paths of Wisdom'." 

— Numbers and Letters, Peek, 79. 

"From the Spirit He produced Air, and found 

in it twenty-two sounds * * * the letters ; three 

are mothers, seven are double, and twelve are 

simple ; but the Spirit is first and above these." 

— Sepher Yetsirah, i, 10. 

The Hebrew alphabet is composed of 22 letters, of 
which 3 are "Mother Letters," 7 are double and 12 are 
simple letters. The 3 "mother letters" are associated 
with the 3 elements, air, fire and water. These ele- 
ments are manifestations of the Divine Trinity from 
which all things are brought forth in the 3 worlds. 
The 7 double letters are associated with the 7 sacred 
planets and the 7 fold power of the Elohim through 
which the Mother Trinity must conceive. They are 
double because each planet has its dual aspects, positive 
and negative, favorable and unfavorable, benefic and 
malific. And just as the astrological aspects of these 
planets are modified by the influences of other planets, 
so the double letters have a hard and soft sound ac- 
cording to the influence of the other letters in the 
words in which they appear. They are also connected 
with certain other powers described elsewhere. 1 The 
12 simple letters are associated with the 12 signs of 
the zodiac, the 12 months in the year and the 12 parts 

1 V, of I„ Chapter xii. 



68 The Key to the Universe 

of the human body. The zodiac being the circle of 
manifestation or the limit of the field of operation of 
our system, and its circumference having 12 points of 
contact through which the force of the sun is trans- 
mitted to earth, the 12 signs may be compared to a 
gigantic switch-board through which the creative 
power — corresponding to that generated by the 3 
mothers and manipulated by the 7 doubles through the 
12 simples — is transmitted to earth, under the guid- 
ance of the 7 Planetary Deities. According to this 
conception the 12 simple letters may be looked upon 
as a perfect distributing apparatus for transmitting the 
messages of the Spiritual Sun. But according as these 
messages are interpreted by man, the receiver, are they 
true, helpful and uplifting or false, misleading and 
depressing. But in considering the letters and their 
associations we must not fall into the error of thinking 
that the letters are either the elements, the planets or 
the zodiacal signs with which they are connected. The 
letters simply respond to the vibrations from those 
forces to which they are related and which they sym- 
bolize. Nevertheless, the letters, either written or 
spoken, awaken certain potencies and are avenues 
through which certain cosmic forces operate in the 
worlds of manifestation. 

The 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Aleph («'), 
corresponding to our letter A, and its numerical value 
is 1. Like number 1 it expresses the outbreathing of 
the Divine or as the Kabalah expresses it, "soft breath- 
ing." Aleph is the 1st of the mother letters out of 
which all the others are produced. Also out of soft 
breathing are all the sounds expressed by the 22 letters 
produced. "But their (the Druids) name for 'A,' 
which by itself names a Mountain, is AIL-M, saying 
Mountain Parent. The same letter is the whole name 
of the palm called P-AILM, or 'The A,' This one 



The ist Letter, Aleph 69 

letter also names the Celtic 'Man' and makes our word 
FIR-S-T." 2 

Aleph symbolizes the Breath of Life as manifested 
in man, for God "breathed into his nostrils the breath 
of life, and man became a living soul." Just as the 
primitive streak in the embryo forms the spinal column 
and makes the upright man, so must the forces whose 
centers lie within the spinal column be awakened, de- 
veloped and blended ere man can grasp his Rod of 
Power and become The Christ-man. The physical 
agent through which this development is accomplished 
is the breath, properly directed and controlled. Ac- 
cording to filiphas Levi : "Aleph indicates the balance 
of universal equilibrium, the division of the day and 
the night, the reign of the sun and that of the moon, 
the approaching struggle between Cain and Abel. It 
is related to the angel of Mercury, represented in the 
Tarot by the Bateleur." 3 

The astrological symbol corresponding to Aleph is 
the ox, the sign Taurus in the zodiac. Some claim to 
find a satisfactory explanation of the origin of this 
letter in the head of the ox, his horns forming an 
inverted A, the top of his head supplying the cross- 
bar, thusV. But this reverses the symbol. It is not 
more fanciful however to regard the lungs, through 
which the Breath of Life functions, as forming a rough 
letter A, with the arching diaphragm as the cross-bar. 
But we will look for a deeper similarity, for the char- 
acteristic of the letter is more an inner quality than 
an outer appearance. 

The sign Taurus is ruled by Venus and is the 1st 
feminine sign, as Aleph is the 1st mother letter. Tau- 
rus is the accepted symbol of terrestrial and physical 
generation. The full significance of the correspon- 
dence, however, is that the brightest star of the con- 
stellation, Aldebaran, situated in the eye of Taurus, 

' The Jarvis Letters, vi. 

* Unpublished Letters of filiphas Levi. 



70 The Key to the Universe 

together with the constellation of the Pleiades in the 
neck of Taurus, in ancient Hindu chronology were the 
determiners used for finding the beginning of our 
present Iron Age or Kali Yuga. This is the cycle of 
man's most dense physical expression and greatest 
spiritual darkness, a period during which he is learn- 
ing the bitterest lessons of terrestrial generation, 
brought about by his misuse of his creative powers. 

The Pleiades, the constellation in the neck of Tau- 
rus, is regarded 

"in the Kabbalah and Eastern Esotericism, as the 
sidereal septenate born from the first manifested 
side of the upper triangle, the concealed A. This 
manifested side is Taurus, the symbol of One 
(the figure 1), or the first letter of the Hebrew 
alphabet, Aleph ( ^ ) 'bull' or 'ox', whose syn- 
thesis is Ten (10), or Yod ( i ), the perfect letter 
and number. The Pleiades (Alcyone especially), 
are thus considered, even in Astronomy, as the 
central point around which our universe of fixed 
stars revolves, the focus from which, and into 
which, the Divine Breath, Motion, works inces- 
santly during the Manvantara." * 

Since Aleph is the 1 which finds its completion in 
Yod, the 10, it corresponds to the Alpha of the Greek 
alphabet which is completed by the letter Omega. 
Hence, Chronus, the god Time, the terrestrial expres- 
sion of the 1, who says: "I am Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the end, the first and the last" (I am 
1 and 10), is but another expression of the outbreak- 
ing of the Breath of Brahm, the Absolute, apparently 
swallowed up in matter, yet bringing forth all things 
upon the terrestrial plane. 

As a hieroglyph, that is, the letter considered as a 
sign or symbol, Aleph represents man as a collective 
unit, the ruler of the earth, "the sign of Power and 
Stability." It carries the idea of man both as the mi- 

* S. D„ II, 581-2. 



The ist Commandment 71 

crocosm and as the unity of the 1 Life, synthesized in 
man through the Breath of Life 

THE 1ST COMMANDMENT. 

"I am the Lord thy God, which have brought 

thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 

of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods 

before me." ^ , ~ , 

— hxoaus, xx, 2-3. 

The significance of each Commandment is revealed 
by its number and is emphasized by the order in which 
it is given. Thus, in the 1st Commandment we find 
that number 1, the 1 Life and the 1 God, is expressed 
in the words "I am the Lord thy God." As we have 
said elsewhere : "The I is the only symbol in the alpha- 
bet that stands for both Deity — the straight vertical 
line symbolizing Spirit descending into matter — and 
for personality." 5 It represents the Divine Light sent 
down into the darkness of Chaos ; the straight and 
narrow Path by which alone the Pilgrim can emerge 
from the land of Egypt or the state of spiritual dark- 
ness wherein he is in bondage to King Desire. The 
"I AM" is also the Father-force, the quickening Ray, 
by whose illumination the bonds of ignorance are 
broken and the Soul is led into the Promised Land of 
spiritual consciousness. Therefore, we may read the 
1st Commandment thus: I, or number 1, am the Law 
(Lord) of thy godhood, which hath brought thee — 
cosmicly, the Chaos of unredeemed substances and 
forces left over from a previous period of manifesta- 
tion ; individually, the Soul that is responding to the 
Divine Light and treading the straight and narrow 
Path — out of the darkness of inertia and resistance to 
the Divine. And I will ultimately lead thee out of the 
house of flesh and the bondage of limitation into the 
fulness of spiritual consciousness. 

' V. of I., 127. 



72 The Key to the Universe 

Since 1 is the 1st of the series of numerals and the 
1 God is the 1st manifestation of the Divine, we can 
have nothing before Him. Every god which man cre- 
ates and tries to place before the 1 God must be swal- 
lowed up in the O °f that Chaos which must be re- 
deemed in the next great Day-period of evolution. For 
nothing but O (naught) can stand before the 1. This 
Commandment means then that we are to recognize 
this 1 God above all things and seek to become 1 with 
Him ; that we are to make the attainment of that one- 
ness the chief and underlying aim of our lives, placing 
nothing before that 1 great goal ; that we are to recog- 
nize the unity of all in the 1 God and worship Him "in 
spirit and in truth" (unity). "It is not what your 
hands are doing, but what your heart is worshiping 
that determines your growth. If you make business 
or household cares your God, you will, of necessity, 
retard your more rapid spiritual advance; for as long 
as you are worshiping a false God before the 1 God 
your spiritual evolution is being retarded." 6 

• V. of I., 33. 



THE 1st TAROT CARD 
THE JUGGI.EB 



cgjp J 




E^S^ 


/// J if ' 


BA 


I 


— / / iSlc" 








]} JLE BATELEUR 


K 








MEDIEVAL 





EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



CHAPTER 8 
the 1st tarot card, The Juggler. 

"A hieroglyphic and numeral alphabet, express- 
ing by characters and numbers a series of uni- 
versal and absolute ideas." 

— Transcendental Magic, Levi, 368. 

The Tarot is the most ancient of books, a collection 
of cards embodying the Secret Doctrine of the ages, 
almost every nation having its version or variation of 
this synthetic exposition of the Ancient Wisdom. The 
Egyptian version is called The Book of Hermes, the 
Hebrew The Book of Adam, while the version which 
we shall interpret is the 1 best known to the Western 
world, the Bohemian Tarot, or "Bible of the Gypsies." 
This Gypsy Bible is made up of a deck of cards upon 
which the Ancient Wisdom is expressed in symbols, but 
like all symbols that are true and basic, they reveal 
their meaning only to those who are capable of receiv- 
ing it. In many respects it is the key which will unlock 
the mystical doctrines and philosophies of the Old 
World, and is called the Arcana of the Clavicles of 
Solomon. It is symbolized by a key whose head is a 
ring composed of a circle containing the 4 Cardinal 
Signs, the Bull, the Lion, the Eagle and the Angel; 
its trunk or body bearing the 22 characters, and having 
the 3 degrees of the triad for its wards. It is some- 
times called "The Key of things kept secret from the 
Foundation." 
The word Tarot may be written in the form of a 



cross o- 



•a and read ROTA, a wheel. 1 In this pre- 



set page 361. 



76 The Key to the Universe 

sentation it is the wheel of Ezekiel. It is also formed by 
Constantine's monogram of Christ — the Latin P or R 
found between the Alpha and Omega — engraved upon 

the cross which Constantine saw in his vision, -JT"^ . 

The 1st card of the Tarot, corresponding to the letter 
A, is called the Juggler. Occupying the central position 
in the picture stands a young man with a rude wooden 
table in front of him upon which are placed 3 of 
the symbols which distinguish the 4 suits of Tarot 
cards, i. e., Cup, Sword, Pentacles, while the 4th, the 
Scepter, is in his left hand. Corresponding to and 
derived from these symbols, the signs denoting the suits 
of the modern playing cards are respectively hearts, 
spades, diamonds and clubs. On his head is a hat 
which forms the Symbol of Life and evolution oo. 
As a sign of his dominion over the earth and her in- 
crease he stands firmly upon the ground which is bring- 
ing forth vegetation. In his left hand, which is raised 
toward heaven, he carries the Scepter, the magic wand, 
symbolizing that only as man draws his power from on 
high can he become the Master over the forces within 
himself and nature. His right hand bent towards the 
earth is a symbol of his power to accomplish upon the 
physical plane. The position of his hands symbolizes 
man's position in evolution. In man, The Christ-prin- 
ciple, the "Breath of Life," has become more than the 
passive Urge of Evolution towards perfection, for man 
as here represented is the active principle, or the co- 
worker with evolution. The 4 mystic symbols represent 
the powers innate in man, but which he must develop 
and use. The rude table symbolizes the plain, unpre- 
tentious and uncultured character of physical man, who 
nevertheless has given to him the possibilities of future 
greatness. These are the portion of goods given to the 



The ist Tarot Card, The Juggler 77 

prodigal Son (man) by his Father-in-heaven, by the 
right use and understanding of which he must accom- 
plish his Great Work. 

The powers contained in the 4 symbols — the Cup, 
the Sword, the Wand or Scepter and the Pentacle, are 
summed up by filiphas Levi in the following words : 
"To attain the sanctum regnum, in other words, the 
knowledge and power of the magi, there are four indis- 
pensable conditions — an intelligence illuminated by 
study, an intrepidity which nothing can check, a will 
which nothing can break, and a discretion which noth- 
ing can interrupt and nothing intoxicate. To Know, To 
Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence — such are the four 
words of the Magus, inscribed upon the four symbol- 
ical forms of the sphinx." 2 

These 4 words correspond to the 4 mystic symbols in 
our modern playing cards. 1st the Cup (To Know), 
which corresponds to Hearts. The Cup is the 
container into which is poured all life's expe- 
riences and from which the Soul drinks either 
the Wine of the Spirit, or the dregs of bitter- 
ness and sorrow. The heart suit in modern play- 
ing cards has the same symbology. This is the 
Cup given by The Christ to His disciples which He 
blessed, saying: "Drink ye all of it; for this is my 
blood" (life- force). But it is man himself who can 
make it "The cup of blessing which we bless," the 
drinking from which in love, is indeed the true Com- 
munion with The Christ. Or in man's hands it may 
become like the Cup in the hands of the Woman in 
Scarlet spoken of in Revelation:* "Having a golden 
cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of 
her fornication." Equally is it true that "whosoever shall 
* * * drink of this cup of the Lord (the heart or esoteric 
doctrine of the law), unworthily, shall be guilty of the 
body and blood of the Lord." The same symbology 

' Transcendental Magic, Levi, 30. 8 Chapter xvii, 4. 



78 The Key to the Universe 

is expressed by the Chalice or the Cup used in the 
Eucharist, also by the Holy Grail, the vision of which 
is vouchsafed only to the pure in the heart. 

This is beautifully expressed in Tennyson's poem, 
"Sir Galahad" ; for if we would find the Holy Grail 
we too must be, "A maiden Knight — to me is given 
such hope, I know not fear." Then will we hear in 
all nature the voice of the angelic hosts, as did he. 

"Then move the trees, the copses nod, 
Wings flutter, voices hover clear; 

s O just and faithful Knight of God ! 
Ride on ! the prize is near' * * * 

\ll-armed I ride, whate'er betide, 
Until I find the Holy Grail." 

For the quest of the Holy Grail is man's most impor- 
tant task on earth. 

The Sword (To Dare) corresponds in our modern 
playing cards to Spades, and symbolizes primarily the 
"Sword of the Spirit" penetrating matter and inform- 
ing it ; secondarily it symbolizes the courage which 
every true man must have to face himself and cut from 
the personality every thing that hinders his advance ; 
to fight the foes within and without, or the power 
needed to "fight the good fight" ; the attitude of the 
True Knight, who dares to face the foe because his 
heart is true and his sword is keen and strong. As 
Sir Galahad, after his vision of the Holy Grail, is 
made to say: "My strength is like the strength of 
ten, because my heart is pure." Hence he is un- 
daunted though his way lead through ignorance, 
superstition, persecution and crucifixion. The Sword 
is also the cross on which The Christ is cruci- 
fied until he has vanquished his last enemy, death. 
Truly the modern playing cards have turned the 
Swords, if not into plow shares, at least into spades. 



The i st Tarot Card, The Juggler 79 

Yet the symbology is similar, for with the spade we 
labor to make the earth give forth her increase; with 
it we overcome the inertia of matter and by the might 
of man's industry conquer physical conditions. But 
perverted, the Sword becomes the instrument which 
digs and undermines man's citadel. 

The Wand or Scepter (To Do), corresponding in 
modern playing cards to Clubs, is a conventionalized 
figure, embracing the idea of power. It is 1st the Wand 
of the Magician, the power placed in man's hands to 
accomplish through Will. It is also the Staff of Wis- 
dom upon which man can lean as he climbs the difficult 
Path of Spiritual Attainment ; the Staff or 1 Life given 
him by his Divine Self; that which he can trust and 
lean upon. It is also the Shepherd's Crook which not 
only helps him to climb the steep heights, but also by 
using the crook at its end he can lift and assist the 
lambs over the dangerous places, i. e., by the use of 
this Staff man can help those weaker than himself and 
thus obey the mandate : "feed my lambs." The same 
idea is represented by the Bishop's Crozier or Pastoral 
Staff. This is an emblem of high authority, dignity 
and power carried upon great occasions by Bishops and 
Archbishops, but only after special sanction from the 
Pope, as it is not a Dignity belonging to the office of 
Bishop itself. In giving a pontifical blessing the 
Bishop holds the Crozier erect in his left hand, with 
the crook pointing toward the penitent, leaving the 
right hand free to touch the head of the kneeling peni- 
tent or to bless a congregation. This posture is but 
a variation of that assumed by the Juggler with his 
Wand. 

The Crozier carried by the Armenian Bishops is 
formed by 2 intertwined serpents whose combined 
heads form the crook, thus connecting it with the 
Caduceus of Hermes, 1 of the most ancient and mys- 



80 The Key to the Universe 

tical of symbols. Among the Bishops of the Greek, 
Coptic and Armenian churches a veil is thrown over 
the Crozier and entwined in the crook, thus symbolizing 
the fact that in this material age the full meaning of the 
Crozier is veiled from the multitude. Just as in our 
present day playing cards the Wand has become the 
Club, so has this symbol of power been degraded until 
we find it in the shillalah of the Irishman, the walking- 
stick of the Englishman, and even the billy of the 
policeman, as well as in the baton of the musical direc- 
tor — always, however, the symbol of authority and 
power of some sort. Instead of ruling through the 
Staff of Divine Authority (Wisdom), it has come to 
mean ruling through personal will or force. 

The Pentacles (To Keep Silent), correspond in 
modern playing cards to Diamonds. In the Tarot 
pentacles are round discs supposed to be talismans, an 
idea hard to fully understand today but very common 
in former ages. By their shape they symbolize cycles. 
They represent the O m which all things can manifest ; 
in other words man's field of operation ; a talisman for 
good if rightly used, or for evil if abused. They repre- 
sent man's possibilities. The meaning, however, that 
has crystallized around the Pentacles, as well as around 
the Diamond, is that of money or worldly wealth. This 
is quite natural in an age when the enlightened mind 
can conceive of no good for man higher than that repre- 
sented by worldly wealth. 

The Pentacles also represent in a religious sense the 
"Host," or ,the bread which is given by The Christ to 
His disciples when He says, "Take eat, this is my body 
which is given for you." Hence they represent man's 
field of operation in which he must build up The Christ 
or Spiritual Body in himself and in humanity. This 
growth can only take place in the silent communion 
within the Sanctuary of his own heart, or the Closet 



The ist Tarot Card, The Juggler 81 

in which when ye have entered in and shut the door, 
"The Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee 
openly." 

The Juggler symbolizes man with the 2 prin- 
ciples, active and passive, positive and negative. This 
is represented by the position of the Juggler's hands, 
symbolizing man's power to stand in the midst of his 
creations and by the power of his Will, represented by 
the Magic Wand, find his balance. Through man's 
power to accomplish, with 1 hand he reaches up to 
God, with the other he reaches down to earth and makes 
her forces subservient to him. Hence the meaning of 
this Card is God, man and the Universe. 



CHAPTER 9 

THE NUMBER 2. 

"How is number 2 to be found? By reflection 
of itself. For though be incapable of definition, 
1 is definable. And the effect of a definition is 
to form an Eidolon, duplicate or image, of the 
thing defined. Thus, then, we obtain a duad 
composed of 1 and its reflection. Now also we 
have the commencement of a vibration estab- 
lished, for the number 1 vibrates alternately 
from changelessness to definition and back to 
changelessness again." 

— The Kabbalah Unveiled, Mathers, 23. 

"But Unity alone cannot produce anything 

except by opposing itself to itself thus-j-. From 

this proceeds duality, the principle of opposition 
represented by 2, the passive principle pre- 
eminent." 

— The Tarot, Papus, 30. 

The number 2 is the symbol of Duality. It is the 
Number of Differentiation, the "fall into matter." It 
is the Number of Separation, and by the Pythagorians 
was called audacity because it was the 1st to separate 
from the Divine Unity. It is the Number of Polarity ; 
the Mother-principle separates from the Father and 
becomes mundane ; the unity of the 1 is broken up into 
its positive and negative aspects, the upper pole being 
Spirit and the lower matter. From another aspect, 
when the Divine 1 descends into the sphere of physical 
manifestation it is separated into its positive and neg- 
ative expressions, Spirit and Matter, male and female, 
etc., thus: 



The Number 83 




K ff .J 



Many philosophers teach a mystical relationship 
between numbers and marriage. In fact such teach- 
ings will be found scattered through almost every 
work on numbers and by such authorities as Pythag- 
oras, Plato, Nicomachus, Aristotle, etc. For the 
return to oneness or Unity (God) in the higher 
cycle (10), through the blending of its positive 
and negative aspects, makes the perfect union of man 
and woman the ideal state. The solution of the sex- 
problem is therefore the great lesson for the humanity 
of this planet. 1 This is symbolized by the Egyptian 
hieroglyph for number 2, which is formed by 2 ser- 
pents encircling a globe or egg. Another symbol is 
a tree with a serpent twined around it or wisdom 
planted in the earth entwined by the Spirit, or the 
spiral evolution of the Soul through following the 1 
God. 

Number 2 is, therefore, the Number of Contrasts 
and the "pairs of opposites," good and evil, truth 
and error, day and night, heat and cold, health and sick- 
ness, pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, male and 
female, etc., and because of this it is called by some "the 

l See V. of I., 257. 



84 The Key to the Universe 

beginning of evil." In nature the 1st differentiation of 
the upright sprout (the 1), is the 2 leaves which appear 
simultaneously when it emerges above the ground. In 
fact, all manifestations on the physical plane fall under 
this Law of Duality, for it is the inexorable law of 
physical manifestation. 

"The ancient form-name of Gemini is two T forms 
joined, as 'II,' which in the numerals means Two * * * 
our T-W-IN is T-UU-IN or 'Deity 2 Fire Island' and 
has the meaning as all words for T-UU-O." 2 

According to the Kabalah number 2 is the Second 
Sephiroth called Chokma, Wisdom, and is produced by 
number 1 casting its reflection into the sphere of mani- 
festation, thus agreeing with our statement that all 
manifestations on the physical plane are necessarily 
dual. 

As 1 symbolizes the 1st Adam, so 2 symbolizes 
Adam and Eve, man and woman ; sex or the masculine 
and feminine aspects of the Great Creative Force mani- 
festing in human form ; for form can result only from 
the interaction of the positive and negative poles. Thus 
we have a mathematical basis for our statement that 
after the separation of the sexes each of the 2 Rays 
maintains its sex polarity throughout all its incarna- 
tions. 3 This is also the geometrical basis for our teach- 
ing that as long as humanity manifests in masculine 
and feminine bodies, the highest ideal and the nearest 
approach to unity which the sexes can attain is the 
perfect blending of the 2 in a true marriage of the 
Soul, not mere union of the sexes. This Soul-mar- 
riage truly is "made is heaven" or in the realms of the 
Spirit, and can be brought about only by pure love. 
But ere such a divine marriage can be consummated 
on all planes it must be confirmed on earth according 
to the legal requirements of the country in which the 
ones so united dwell. For marriage is far more than 



! The Jarvis Letters, iv. * V. of I., 160. 



The Number 2 85 

merely a convenient and personal arrangement between 
the man and woman concerned. It is the foundation, 
not only of society and all human relations, but of the 
higher spiritual life as well. Hence no couple is truly 
married who do not in some measure recognize that 
in the solemnization of their physical union they are 
fulfilling a divine mandate, *. e., the reunion of the 2 
expressions of the 1 Soul. Any couple looking upon 
marriage in this light would naturally recognize their 
duty to the community as well as themselves, hence 
would gladly comply with the laws of the community 
of which they were a part. The laws of the country 
neither make nor mar the true Soul-marriage, yet 
obedience to the laws of the country which protects 
their marriage rights is the way to fulfill their obliga- 
tions to that country. Since to "Do the duty that lies 
nearest" is the surest way to freedom, to deny or refuse 
to fulfill marital duties when brought to us by the Great 
Law is to close a most important avenue to higher 
attainment. In other words, the perfect family life is 
man's highest state of existence while manifesting on 
the physical plane in separated sexes. And he will not 
transcend that state until he has thoroughly learned all 
its lessons. 

2 is the Binary, the symbol of all that is double, 
also all that is false, in the sense of being transitory 
and not eternal, or opposed to the 1 Reality. It is the 
Number of Matter whose inertia opposes the manifes- 
tation of the Spirit. As the vertical line represents the 
descent of Spirit, so the horizontal line represents 
matter, thus forming the cross upon which the Divine 
is crucified in its efforts to express in the physical 
world. The cross is, therefore, a cosmic symbol and 
should not be identified exclusively with any 1 incar- 
nation of the Divine in human form.. 



86 The Key to the Universe 

Geometrically, the 2 is generated by the equator 
bisecting the axis of the circle midway between its 

N 

poles, thus (- — 4. The square root of 2 (\2) is 



the ratio between the diagonal and any side of a square, 
but since that ratio ( 1.4142135- oo ) is incapable of exact 
expression it leads to infinity oo. This indicates 
that the pairs of opposites cannot be balanced upon the 
physical plane without calling into play an Infinite 
factor, a force from the higher, super-physical realms. 
It also indicates that infinite progression, through the 
pairs of opposites, is the divine Law of Manifestation 
in duality. 

As 1 is considered positive and masculine, so 2 is 
considered as negative, receptive and feminine in its 
characteristics. 2 - manifests in all realms of nature 
through the pairs of opposites. Number 2 is sacred to 
all female deities, such as Rhea, Isis, Vishnu, the Virgin 
Mary, etc., as it represents the Mother-force separated 
from the Father and ever seeking reunion that it may 
bring forth. It represents all the productive forces 
in nature, including nature-sounds, voice and speech; 
for it is through sound that creation is brought forth. 
"For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and 
it stood fast." 4 "The words that I speak unto you, 
they are spirit, and they are life." 5 The sounds of 
nature, especially the songs of birds, are a great factor 
in calling forth the leaf-buds of early spring, and later 
the flower-buds. 

Among man's Principles 2 represents Buddhi. 6 

When you contemplate the figure 2, let it remind 

you that while matter, through its inertia, opposes 

Spirit, still it is necessary to enable Spirit to express 

on all planes. By harmonizing the pairs of opposites 

* Psalms, xxxiii, 9. • See Chapter 28 herein. 

• St. John, vi, 63. 



The Number s 87 

as they express in matter, and by learning the lessons 
they can teach, you will be progressing toward the 
Infinite Balance of the heaven world; will be spirit- 
ualizing matter and making possible the manifestation 
of the Infinite and Divine on earth. Matter is, there- 
fore, not to be either denied or despised, but purified, 
spiritualized and redeemed. 

Let 2 also remind you of the inevitable crucifixion 
which must ensue when you endeavor to oppose the 
manifestation of the Divine within you ; when you 
refuse to live The Christ-life. Also let it remind you 
that the great problem of humanity on this globe is the 
perfect blending and mastery of the positive and neg- 
ative expressions of the Great Creative Force through 
its pairs of opposites, the sexes. And, lastly, let it 
remind you of the essential purity and sacredness of 
sex, the 2 expressions of the Divine in humanity. 

THE KEY TO THE UNIVERSAL LAW OF SEX. 

"And the Lord said, it is not good that the 

man should be alone ; I will make him an help 

meet for him." n . .. 10 

—GenesiSj n, 18. 

The 1 great and fundamental Law back of the differ- 
entiation of the 1 Life into the 2 opposite sexes is 
primarily the fact that the Great Law, as we have 
shown, must have its 2 poles, positive and neg- 
ative, within the circle. These 2 expressions are 
forever blended into each other, or the serpent is 
forever swallowing its tail, i. e., the life-force goes 
round and round, making a great egg in which both 
currents are unmanifested and latent. 

If we consider the egg as our symbol we see that 
the moment the egg is laid or expressed on the phys- 
ical plane and these 2 poles begin to manifest, the result 
is an individualized living entity. And when we follow 
this symbol into the higher realms we see that within 



88 The Key to the Universe 

the unmanifested egg or Q, the 1 Life is both Father 
and Mother. Hence, since to manifest on earth the 2 
poles must be separated, they are expressed below as 
masculine and feminine, both born of the 1 Life, both 
a part of the one Q> which is able to experience and 
manifest only when separated into masculine and fem- 
inine. We have seen that within the circle the forces 
from the 2 poles are forever flowing round and 
round, but undifferentiated, therefore unable to 
express on the physical plane because they are 0> 
naught. Yet on earth in the separated sexes they must 
find the same divine union, must blend and interchange 
the life-forces as perfectly and as harmoniously in the 
2 separated sexes as they did in the circle ; that is, do 
the will of God on earth as they did, and as they still 
are doing, in heaven ; for every man or woman is a 
separated expression from 1 pole of an unmanifested 
Divine O m which the 2 forces are forever circling 
round and round with their opposites in perfect har- 
mony and bliss. Each such circle makes a radiant 
Sun of Light — each having its own place and its own 
work — which circles around the Central Sun of the 
Universe or around the Throne of God. 

'Man is the masculine Ray or the expression on earth 
of the Divine Father-force, that aspect of the Divine 
which is ever fructifying, ever creating and expressing 
itself in forms. It is that divine potency designated in 
the Apostles' Creed as, "God the Father Almighty, 
maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible 
and invisible." Hence, since man expresses this 
Father-ray he is the positive pole and his function in 
life is creativeness. Therefore the foundation of all 
his love and his seeking for union with God expresses 
itself in the desire to fructify and create. Woman, on 
the other hand, is the expression of the divine Mother- 
force, that which is called the "Holy Ghost," the "Com- 



The Key to the Universal Lazv of Sex 89 

forter" — in Egyptian symbology, Isis the Great Mother, 
and in Hindu philosophy Vishnu the preserver. Hence 
the foundation of all woman's love is divine Mother- 
hood. The expression of Mother-love is woman's near- 
est approach to the divine state, therefore, the more a 
woman loves, even her husband, the more the element 
of mothering enters into it. Even though she have no 
children she will mother all she loves, for this is the 
fundamental well-spring of her very existence as a 
separated sex. For this reason we often find that a 
woman can live in happiness and express her love in 
caresses, cherishing and in motherly solicitude, but a 
man has his equally strong and divine love built upon 
the great Father-force of creativeness, hence the more 
true, sincere and God-like man grows, the higher, 
purer and more intense will be his desire to fructify 
and create on all planes. If these 2 great and funda- 
mental laws of the opposite poles of sex-life were better 
understood there would not only be less marital unhap- 
piness, but the Race as a whole would evolve much 
more quickly back to its Edenic oneness. The great 
lesson for each to learn is, that the functions of sex 
are Divine and are not a gift given to man and woman 
as evolved animal organisms merely for the purpose 
of procreation and peopling the earth, but are innate 
God-qualities, the very essence of their divine oneness 
which they as immortal Souls must manifest through 
their animal bodies. This is necessary as a means of 
informing, purifying and evolving those animal bodies 
to a state of perfection in which the complete God- 
consciousness can flow unimpeded from 1 to the other, 
and they can be as truly 1 on earth in 2 separated bodies 
as they were in the one 0> yet with all the experience 
gained from the long journey into the far country of 
embodiment, and the strength and power of son-hood 
which has made them truly "as one of us," the Elohim. 



CHAPTER 10 
the 2nd letter, Beth (2). 

"He produced Beth, and referred it to Wisdom; 
He crowned it, combined and formed with it the 
Moon in the universe, the first day of the week, 
and the right eye of man." 

— Sepher Yetzirah, 22. 

The 2nd Hebrew letter is Beth ( 2 ), 1 of the 7 
double letters, corresponding to our letter B. Hiero- 
glyphically it stands for the mouth of man and is 
referred to Wisdom, but since out of the "mouth of 
man" proceedeth both Wisdom and Folly this letter 
is called double. Its radical meaning is a "house" or 
"birth-place" and it is used with this meaning through- 
out the Bible. For instance, Beth-el is the "house of 
God" ; Eliza-beth the "house of Eliza" ; Beth-lehem the 
"house of bread" ; Bal-beth the "house or temple of the 
sun," etc. Its symbolic meaning, derived from the 
house as a birth place, is both the Womb of Nature 
and of woman, from which all comes forth. From this 
meaning we deduce the idea of a sanctuary or inner 
shrine or that secret place where we can retire without 
fear of disturbance, the closet into which we can go 
and having shut the door pray to our Father in secret. 
Out of this sanctuary come forth the true character- 
istics which make us what we are, also from it issues 
the inspiration and instruction given us from the Divine 
in the Silence. Hence Beth expresses everything that 
emanates from this mysterious retreat. 

"B, called BE-I-T, pictures and names the Bee or Bi 
and means BEing, Existence ; names LIFE, BEe, Bios 



The 2nd Letter, Beth 91 

* * * The colonial priests of a remote time sent a 
present from Delphi to England, being a miniature 
Temple in the form of a Hive, carved out of Beeswax. 
This was a primal picture, which in the double mean- 
ings, and for the wonderment of the ignorant, was 
always the House of the god Be, and making the 
Hebrew word for the original 'House of God' as 
BE-TH, which says 'B-Deity', and is also their alpha- 
betic name of their letter 'B', showing that our 'B' is 
named in this 'BETH' * * * The universal picture- 
language Bow, which Egyptian deities carry to ident- 
ify themselves, is made as an elongated 'B', and 
names the Be priesthood that was the shooter of the 
'A' light or Arrow, the Celtic 'S-A-I-SV x 

Just as man, as the active Father-principle, is repre- 
sented by Aleph, so in Beth we find the inner, passive 
or feminine Principle, the Mother-force, through 
which his characteristics are brought forth. While 
both man and woman express both Aleph and Beth, 
man is more Aleph than Beth and woman is more Beth 
than Aleph. The 3 primal meanings of Beth — the 
house, the mouth and the womb — are therefore but 
different expressions of the idea of bringing forth 
through the Mother-principle ; for out of the house or 
inner sanctuary of the heart is brought forth man's 
spiritual nature ; out of the womb is brought forth man's 
physical body, and out of the mouth man himself brings 
forth his ideas or thought creations. "For of the abund- 
ance of the heart his mouth speaketh." 2 

"The Beth represents hieroglyphically the heaven and 
the earth. It also represents unity made manifest in 
space and stability, and life made manifest by move- 
ment. It represents the Spirit of God born upon the 
waters and the fecundation of matter by Spirit." 8 

1 The Jarvis Letters, I. 

1 St. Luke, vi, 45. 

• Unpublished Letters of tliphas Levi. 



92 The Key to the Universe 

THE 2ND COMMANDMENT. 

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the 
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 
that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt 
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." 

— Exodus, xx, 4. 

Since number 2 is the symbol of Duality and marks 
the 1st step in the differentiation of the 1, nothing can 
manifest objectively upon the mundane plane without 
duality. That which appears upon the lower planes 
is but the shadow of the unseen Reality. Hence the 
2nd Commandment deals with the ever present danger 
into which unenlightened man is only too apt to fall, 
namely, mistaking the shadow for the Reality. There- 
fore the Commandments begin with a warning against 
mistaking the reflection for the Substance; against 
making an idol out of material things and worshiping 
it. Note that the text says, "Thou shalt not make unto 
thee." Others may carve statues or images for us, 
but no 1 but ourselves can make us create an idol out 
of the shadow. The Commandment is not to be taken 
in the literal sense that we should never carve an image 
or symbol of any holy ideal, principle or thing, a custom 
common in the Christian churches today. For when 
properly used such images or symbols serve to recall 
and impress more vividly upon the mind the unseen 
Reality for which they stand. They also have a mys- 
tical power in themselves. The Commandment means 
far more. It deals with all that number 2 expresses. 

The overshadowing God-consciousness, fully compre- 
hending the law of the descent of the Light into Chaos, 
and realizing all the pitfalls and mistakes into which 
man was likely to fall during his long pilgrimage, gave 
him at the outset a solemn warning against building 
up, through the creative power of his newly acquired 
self-conscious thought, earthly images of the Divine, 



The 2nd Commandment 93 

and through the ignorance and darkness of the land 
in which he toiled, falling down to worship them. Even 
today many savage tribes have created thought-form- 
elementals which have become tribal gods, many of 
which must be propitiated by offerings of blood. Such 
worship of the false would lead man age after age 
farther and farther from the worship of the Spiritual 
Light, which was to lead him out of the darkness of 
Egypt if he would but worship the True instead of 
an image of his own creation. The duality of shadow 
and Substance is but a passing manifestation belonging 
to this Day-period and will cease to exist when the 
shadow has been indrawn into the Reality. 

Since all God's creations in heaven above, in the 
earth beneath and in the waters under the earth, are 
images of divine and immutable Realities, if we hold 
fast to this thought and through the image seek to 
come into harmony with its Reality, we will find our 
Path of Attainment a joyous and fascinating journey 
through a wonderful country full of objects, each of 
which represents a marvelous God-mystery, instead of 
a wearisome climb up a rocky pathway through chilling 
darkness, dull misery, suffering and despair. The 
words, "The waters under the earth" give the key to 
the understanding of the Commandment. Waters, 
tossed by every wind that blows, symbolize the chang- 
ing and unstable conditions of earthly manifestation. 
They are the unstable and varying conditions which, in 
the sense of back of, are underneath every earth con- 
dition. 

"I the Lore! thy God am a jealous God, visiting 
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto 
the third and fourth generation of them that hate 
me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them 
that love me, and keep my commandments." 

— Exodus, xx, 5. 



94 The Key to the Universe 

The Lord thy God is a jealous God in the sense that 
nothing can stand between Him and man's love for the 
Divine. Anything which diverts man's allegiance from 
Him or is placed before Him must be swallowed up in 
the 0> naught. 

The latter part of this Commandment may sound 
like a threat. In reality it is but a setting forth of the 
Law in its aspect as Karma. 1st, it is plainly stated 
that we are not to make images, mistake them for Real- 
ities and worship them. Then the inevitable result of 
so doing is set forth. Is not the world today suffering 
from the "iniquities of the fathers" or the disobedience 
to this 2nd Commandment? this 1st and primal rule of 
the plane of differentiation or duality? Have not our 
fathers mistaken the shadow for the Substance and 
fallen down and worshipped the Golden Calf? Have 
they not graven images of that which the Light 
revealed to them instead of the Light? Do we not 
today worship various man-made images of God? Do 
we not worship tradition — a graven image of the reve- 
lation of the Light — instead of turning our eyes to the 
Light ourselves and knowing that it will lead us out 
of the bondage of our fathers' false images and con- 
ceptions of Life, its needs and requirements, into a 
realization of our spiritual heritage? Esoterically this 
means that by his misuse of his creative powers man 
has impregnated the aura of the world upon the 3 
planes with his mistakes and these must finally manifest 
upon the 4th or physical plane. Hence the children of 
man will suffer until his false images have had their 
day upon earth ; have manifested their human origin ; 
have proved their fallibility and have been replaced by 
the true worship of the 1 Reality, the Divine Light. 

Those who "hate" the Lord are those who reverse 
Divine Love or who refuse to work in harmony with 
the Law. They suffer unto the 3rd and 4th generation, 



The 2nd Commandment 95 

not in the sense of a punishment for something their 
fathers did, but because they continue to worship the 
graven images handed down by their fathers. They 
give their lives and the mighty power of their thought 
to preserve the images which are literally graven upon 
the Akashic Records by their fathers' misconceptions 
of the 1 God. Variation and progression are the basic 
principles of all evolution ; an ever changing manifesta- 
tion and an ever widening comprehension of unity in 
the manifold expressions of the 1 God. 

The same divine and inexorable Law must show 
mercy to thousands (an indefinite term expressing a 
vast number) of those who love the Reality; who seek 
the Light; who endeavor to keep the Commandments 
and live in harmony with the Law as it is revealed 
to them, instead of worshiping the graven images of 
tradition. Mercy is shown us, even when we falter and 
fail, so long as we give our love and allegiance to the 1 
God and earnestly strive to follow the Light which has 
brought us out of Egypt and out of the house of bond- 
age, the senses. 



THE 2nd TAROT CARD 

HIGH PRIESTESS 




LA PAPE55E 



^ 




MEDIEVAL 




rt 


m 




M 


■a • aM 

|»1 


1 f&l^il \ 


j] 


BIS 





|the high priestess 



EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



CHAPTER 11 

the 2nd tarot card, The High Priestess. 

This card beautifully expresses the Mother idea con- 
tained in number 2. In the 1st card we see man 
standing in the midst of nature and surrounded by 
all the attributes of power or the ability- to rule out- 
wardly. In the 2nd card we find woman veiled and 
enthroned between the 2 columns of the Temple, in 
the portico or entrance to the inner shrine. She is 
invested with the insignia of spiritual authority, the 
Robe of purity; the Triple Crown showing that she 
must rule on the 3 planes through her Divine Mother- 
hood. In her right hand she holds the partly opened 
Book of the Law, which, however, is partially hidden 
from the profane within the folds of her Mantle. In 
her left hand she holds the symbol of her authority as 
interpreter of the Law, possessing its positive and nega- 
tive Keys. The Tiara upon her head is surmounted 
by the lunar crescent, symbol of her feminine functions 
and her power as the Bringer-forth of the Race. She 
rules not by might nor by force, but by the mysterious 
power of Mother-love, which under the influence of the 
invisible and periodic forces of the moon enables her 
to bring forth, as it also does the earth. By the unen- 
lightened the moon is supposed to be but a satellite of 
the earth, altho in reality it is the mother of the earth, 
the giver of its life terrestrial. In a similar manner 
throughout many ages, among the spiritually unen- 
lightened, woman has been looked upon as a mere 
chattel or satellite of man, yet from whom he has ever 
received his inspiration as well as his physical body, 
and to whose mystic power he instinctively bows. Even 



98 The Key to the Universe 

though ignored, degraded and denied a Soul, she has 
nevertheless swayed nations and kingdoms and been 
a powerful factor in the world, through the influence 
proceeding from the sacred inner shrine of Mother- 
hood. 

Woman's true place is as the High Priestess of 
mankind and she should fill the same position in each 
home. As we have said elsewhere: "True woman is 
positive upon the spiritual plane, where man is neg- 
ative, and negative upon the physical plane, where man 
is positive. To her belongs the control of all those ques- 
tions which deal with the higher life. She must use her 
intuition in the directing of all activities pertaining to 
the altruistic side of life, just as man uses his reason in 
worldly affairs. She should be man's moral and spir- 
itual monitor and his source of inspiration and spiritual 
help." x She it is, as this Tarot card shows, who can 
open for him the Book of the Law and inspire him 
with its truths. For he can read and grasp its real 
meaning only as he seeks, within the sheltering porch 
of the Temple of Isis, for a true revelation of the mys- 
teries of the Mother. 

The 2 columns express, from this inner or feminine 
aspect, the same meaning as the 2 arms of the Juggler 
in the 1st card expressed outwardly, i. e., positive and 
negative, or Jakin and Boas, Justice and Mercy. In 
much of the Moorish architecture, especially in their 
temples, we find at the entrance 2 columns united by 
an arch, with an interlacing of lattice work just beneath 
it. The symbology of this characteristic form of 
entrance, either to the home or the temple, is the same 
as we find in this Tarot card, namely, that the 2 col- 
umns, Justice and Mercy, man and woman, intellect and 
heart, must be united in the higher aspects of all their 
forces, and must each send out and interlace their 

1 V. of I., 339. 



The 2nd Tarot Card, the High Priestess 99 

forces over the portal by which humanity must enter 
the Temple of the higher life. 

On her breast the Priestess bears the Solar Cross, 
the symbol that must ever express the crucifixion; 
the effort of Spirit to penetrate matter; the 
Light to illumine darkness, and that which is inner 
and sacred to express outwardly in the life. Hence 
this symbol upon the breast (over the heart) expresses 
woman, who ever bears the cross in her heart, while 
man bears it before the world and fights its battles in 
the arena of life. 

The Veil represents the sacred Mystery of Mother- 
hood not to be rudely lifted by the profane or dese- 
crated by the impious, whether this be the motherhood 
that gives birth to the physical body or the far more 
sacred and veiled birth of The Christ-child within the 
heart. Isis is represented as having 7 veils 2 which 
shroud the mystery of birth, hence birth is the most 
profound and sacred of all mysteries, and has its 
correspondence on the 7 planes of consciousness. 

The first 2 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, with their 
corresponding numbers, 1 and 2, as well as the 1st and 
2nd cards of the symbolic Tarot, reveal the true rela- 
tionship of man and woman. God is represented as 
taking Eve out of Adam's side during a deep sleep, 
because it was not good for man to be alone. In other 
words number 1 pierced the darkness or deep sleep of 
matter and when by its brightness it was able to 
produce its shadow, number 2 came into manifestation. 
Hence man is the positive or outer expression of the 
microcosm, and it is man who must fight the outer con- 
ditions and make a place for himself, while woman is 
the inner Soul or Inspirer, or shadow of God to man. 
That is, since number 1 produced 2 as a shadow 
or impression in matter, number 2 must have been an 
inner aspect or the real Soul of the manifesting 1. For 

s V. of I., 253, 



100 The Key to the Universe 

1 stands alone until out of its Side or Heart or Inner 
Self it can impress the reality of the Light upon the 
darkness. 

If we think of number 2 as radiance instead of a 
shadow we will get a better conception of its real mean- 
ing, for number 2 is the radiance produced by the light 
of the 1 piercing the darkness of Chaos. Indeed, this 
is the true mission of woman, i. e., to be the radiance 
and the light of mankind, giving birth to the ideals of 
the Race. Hence the position held by woman in any 
country has always indicated its degree of true civili- 
zation and progress. Woman should always be the 
High Priestess, reading from the book of the Divine 
Law of Love in the shelter of the Temple, or home, 
that man in his struggle with outer conditions may 
catch the radiance of Love, Truth and Wisdom reflected 
on his Path of Attainment. This, however, in no way 
implies that woman should confine herself to the duties 
of the household and become a household drudge and 
mere breeder of the race, for the home or Temple is 
the sacred Shrine of Inspiration to be found in every 
walk of life. It should be the duty of every true woman 
not only to sit within the portal of this Shrine, be she 
engaged in whatsoever duty in whatsoever capacity, but 
she should also be the Inspirer or radiant Light lead- 
ing and guiding man toward ever higher ideals, and 
to greater efforts toward reaching the goal of his high- 
est attainment. Even though she be walking side by 
side with him, yet in a mystical sense she should ever 
be the Light set in the window of the home to guide 
him safely through the storms and darkness of outer 
conditions. It is also woman's place to cover with 
her Mantle of Love and healing the scars and wounds 
received by man in the battles of life which he fights 
for her and the home. For within those magic folds 
the Great Law shall bring understanding out of con- 



The 2nd Tarot Card, the High Priestess 101 

fusion, Wisdom out of experience and strength out of 
failure. In the hands of the mothers of the Race rests 
its salvation, no matter if they be mothers of physical 
children or mothers of ideals and reforms. 

Like all things intended for the highest good, the 
perversion of woman's forces has done more to push 
man deeper into the mire of selfishness, sensuality and 
despair than all other things combined. But the Lords 
of Karma who ever hold a just balance, hold out to 
woman the opportunity for an advanced step, because 
of the lessons learned through suffering and degrada- 
tion. Because the cross has rested heavily upon her 
heart, The Christ in her has been crucified and must 
be lifted up that He may draw all men unto Him. Woe 
then to the woman who lives in frivolity and idleness, 
as the plaything of humanity. Woe to the mothers who 
bring not forth children of Light, but perverted temples 
of iniquity full of pride, lust and all manner of unwor- 
thiness. Woe to the women who, because of pride, 
vanity and lust, seek not to inspire man but to entice, 
seduce and enslave him. 

Woman today stands in the portal of the Temple 
of the New Humanity and only she can throw 
wide the Door. The day is coming when the 
eyes of all must be opened, and both man and 
woman behold the Living Christ whom they have cruci- 
fied. In that day there can be no recriminations, 1 
saying to the other, "thou art to blame, or thou didst 
tempt me and I did eat," for man and woman are 1 in 
the sight of God. A perfect humanity must express 
absolute equality, but not uniformity. The shell of 
the nut represents the nut to the outer world and pro- 
tects the kernel, but if the kernel is bad the nut is 
worthless. 



CHAPTER 12 

THE NUMBER 3. 

"The Deity is one, because It is infinite. It is 
triple, because It is ever manifesting." 

— The Kabbalah. 

"The King of ages, the merciful and gracious 

God, the exalted One, the Dweller in Eternity, 

most high and holy — engraved his name by the 

three Seraphim — Numbers, Letters, and Sounds." 

— Sepher Yetsirah, Chapter i. 

Since 1 is unity and hence no number, 3 is called the 
1st odd number. 3 is the Number of the Trinity, hence 
Divine. In number 1 the Divine came down into mani- 
festation, in 2 it was met by the inertia of matter, but 
in 3 it penetrated into matter and manifested the "only 
begotten Son." This process is illustrated by the 

equilateral triangle A in which the positive and neg- 
ative forces from the dot above bring forth a stable 
manifestation on the physical-plane, the base line. The 
triangle is the 1st geometrical figure, for "the number 
2 is like two straight lines which can never enclose a 
space, and therefore it is powerless till the number 3 
forms a triangle." Again the triangle may be consid- 
ered as Spirit and Matter united by Mind. 

Number 3 is sacred and Divine because it symbolizes 
the 3 fold Deity, the Trinity; the Father, the Mother 
and the Son ; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost of the 
Christians; the Brahma, Siva and Vishnu of the 
Hindus; the Osiris, Isis and Horus of the Egyptians, 
etc. In another aspect 3 is the number of the 3 mani- 
festations of Deity, the Logoi. The 1st Logos is Unity, 
the Undifferentiated ; the 2nd Logos is a trinity of the 



The Number 3 103 

1 Life, Spirit-Matter and Cosmic Consciousness ; the 
3rd Logos is Mahat, Cosmic Ideation or Universal 
Mind. 3 is the Number of the Mystery of Life. Stinson 
Jarvis in his articles on the Druids 1 states that, "The 
Druids described deity as being ONE and TWO and 
THREE; and, by itself, our T means Three, and our 
word 'T.R.I.', meaning Three, named this number 
from the Isthmus of Darien to the remote Pacific 
islands, showing that there was one Druid word-making 
for the entire world, and one priesthood to carry our 
words into every country. Father Smiddy says : 
'Three was the Druid mystical number. With them 
nearly all things resolved themselves into a Trine.' This 
was the D-OC-TRINE, or 'Trine-Teaching,' preached 
in America for ages, and TRI-N-I-TE says 'Three, 
Heaven Island God'." 

3 is the number of the trilogies used to measure the 
manifestations of all things to the human conscious- 
ness, such as substance, life, intelligence ; matter, force, 
consciousness ; heat, light, electricity ; length, breadth, 
thickness ; creation, preservation, dissolution ; thinker, 
thought, thing thought of, etc. By some 3 is loosely 
spoken of as the number of man because of his division 
into body, Soul and Spirit, but as this is only a super- 
ficial and exoteric division, 3 is not properly man's 
symbol. As 3 includes past, present and future it is 
sometimes called the Number of Time. It is also called 
the Middle or the Analogy, because all comparisons 
are expressed in 3 terms, good, bad and indifferent. 

The Egyptian Trinity is composed of Osiris (water, 
especially their sacred river Nile), Isis (earth, espe- 
cially the land of Egypt over which she reigned), and 
Horus (air, especially the moist warm air after the 
overflow of the Nile in spring). Thus the Nile repre- 
sented to the Egyptians the great fertilizing power of 
the Father, and at its annual overflow there was great 

1 Chapter i. 



104 The Key to the Universe 

rejoicing and many religious rites were celebrated 
because Osiris was fecundating the Queen Mother, 
Isis. After the river receded the entire valley, which 
before the overflow was dry and brown, was covered 
with the tender green of the spring crops. The moist 
balmy air which pervades the valley at that time was 
considered the child of Isis and Osiris, Horus. If the 
rains in the interior were late and the rising of the Nile 
was delayed, processions were formed and prayers 
offered entreating Osiris to look upon his spouse with 
favor. 

In astronomy recent discoveries 2 have revealed a 
trinity in the motions of the stars, each having 3 distinct 
motions — rotatory, orbital, linear — i. e., each rotates on 
its axis, gyrates around the central sun of its system, 
and also drifts toward a point outside its zodiac. Just 
so does each Soul have its inner point about which it 
rotates ; its Spiritual Sun about which it gyrates and 
which determines the orbit of its evolution, and also 
its Destiny or place in the Grand Plan of the Universe, 
toward which it is steadily being swept by the Great 
Law while evolving the qualities necessary to enable it 
to fulfill its Destiny. 

In addition to the 2 great star-streams well known 
to astronomers, a 3rd but much smaller stream has 
recently been discovered which is independent of the 
other 2. Such is the mysterious law called gravitation, 
that the heavenly bodies are not only bound together 
by mutual attraction, but are also held at relatively 
fixed distances apart ; as though gravitation brought 
them only so near to each other and some counter repel- 
lant force kept them from approaching nearer. In 
reality that which limits their nearer approach is the 
limits of their auras. Of these 3 star-streams 1 is 
going outward into manifestation — a cycle requiring 
some aeons of ages — and 1 stream is going inward to 

2 See Stellar Movements and the Structure of the Universe, Prof. 
A. S. Eddington. Also monographs by Dr. Campbell and Prof. Aitken 
of Lick Observatory. 



The Number 3 105 

its rest or pralaya, while the 3rd and smaller stream is 
composed of those stars and systems which have 
attained Mastery and become independent of the other 
2 streams; in other words, have become immortal for 
the cycle of the mahamanvantara or great world-period. 
Just so are there 3 streams of humanity, 1 going out 
into manifestation in incarnation, 1 going inward to 
rest between incarnations, and a 3rd and very small 
stream of those who have attained Mastery and immor- 
tality for this manvantara or world-period. 

Science has recently discovered that the entire visible 
universe is a huge spiral made up of a series of lesser 
spiral systems. It has long been known that the giant 
nebulae, or world systems in the process of formation, 
are spiral in shape, each having its central nucleus or 
Dot from which the system emanated. And since the 

outline of a spiral is A, we see that the A with 
a dot at the apex is a cosmic symbol which cor- 
rectly portrays the Law of Manifestation — of individ- 
uals, of worlds, of universes — for the life cycle of all 
forms of manifestation is spiral in character. "As above, 
so below." We may think our lives are on a dead 
level, because our physical, mental and spiritual lives 
may seem to be but a succession of days and nights in 
which we experience similar conditions, but by a study 
of the Law we find that all evolution is in spirals, each 
life having its personal, racial and universal motions. 
Hence we find that as we evolve we pass over, again 
and again, the decisive points in our lives, but at each 
repetition we are on a little higher round of experience 
and attainment. Each Race as a whole, and the planet 
itself, also have their spirals of evolution. 

The widespread manifestation of triplicities is shown 
in the celestial signs, each of which has a fixed, movable 
and common quarternion, also 3 decans. Among these 
signs there is a triplicity for each of the 4 elements, 



106 The Key to the Universe 

thus : the Fire signs are Aries, Leo, Saggitarius ; the 
Earth signs Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn; the Air signs 
Gemini, Libra, Aquarius ; the Water signs Cancer, 
Scorpio, Pisces. Astrologers also regard the 3rd day- 
after the new moon as the most fortunate day of the 
month. The Hermetics had 3 symbolic animals con- 
nected with their magic : the Bull, symbol of earth or 
philosophic Salt; the Dog, Herm-anubis, the Mercury 
of the Sages or fluid, air and water ; the Goat, symbol 
of Fire and generation. 3 is also the Number of the 
Akasha, the so-called Veil of Deity, the great store- 
house of all events, past, present and future. 

3 is the Number of Divine Love, also man, woman 
and the magnetic attraction between them united in the 
Divine. It is Divine Love overshadowing and mani- 
festing through the "two witnesses" mentioned in 
Revelation, 3 i. e., man and woman. For every true 
marriage in which human love reaches up to and blends 
with Divine Love is a witness on earth that Divine Love 
has been able to penetrate into and manifest through 
humanity. 3 is therefore the number of a perfect mar- 
riage made in heaven, or the masculine and feminine 
expression of human love united above the earth in 
Divine Love, the completion of the triangle. 

The triangle is pre-eminently the symbol of the 
triune Godhead. But all manifestations of that God- 
head must contain a reflection of the triangle — (a) the 
inner reality, (b) the outer manifestation, and (c) the 
life-force which unites the 2 — else the Deity would not 
be represented in His works. As number 2 symbol- 
izes the 1 Ray separated and manifested upon the phys- 
ical plane in the pairs of opposites, so number 3 sym- 
bolizes the evolution of the pairs of opposites to a point 
of perfect balance or at-one-ment with their source ; 
the Divine merging into them that it may uplift and 
redeem them. In other words, in 3 there is the 

3 Chapter xi, 3. 



The Number 3 107 

• 

Dot which overshadows each pair of opposites A, 
the goal toward which they are evolving; the 
state of perfection which will manifest when the 
experience of both extremes has been garnered 
and indrawn to the point above the physical 
plane. Number 3 therefore symbolizes the bal- 
ance of all manifested things in the Godhead; 
is a prophecy of their ultimate perfection and 
their unity in the Divine. Hence the sacredness with 
which number 3 has always been regarded in religions. 

Applying this triune principle to humanity we find 
that man and woman, being the microcosm of the 
macrocosm and embodying all the pairs of opposites in 
nature — heat and cold, pleasure and pain, good and 
evil, etc. — must ultimately find their completion, bal- 
ance and perfection in union in the Dot — in the divine 
marriage — above the physical plane. As they advance 
toward this perfection they will, of necessity, balance 
all the pairs of opposites manifesting in their micro- 
cosm. 

"All Souls are pre-existent in the world of emana- 
tions, and are in their original state androgynous, but 
when they descend upon the earth they become sepa- 
rated into male and female, and inhabit different bod- 
ies ; if therefore in this mortal life the male half encoun- 
ters the female half, a strong attachment springs up 
between them, and hence it is said that in marriage 
the separated halves are again conjoined ; and the 
hidden forms of the soul are akin to the kerubim." 4 

Since the great goal toward which all manifested 
things are evolving is the reunion of the many in the 
One from which they emanated, as the positive and 
negative poles express on earth they are ever seeking 
to return to their unity in the Dot. Hence they attract 
or reach toward each other (Fig. 2). When they 
unite and are balanced they bring forth a 3rd line, 

* The Kabbalah Unveiled, Mathers, 34-5. 



108 The Key to the Universe 

0MM P£XLM 




Seeking balance in unity beloiv 
thus ascending to the unity above 



r&2 



Fiy.3 



the base of the triangle or "the only begotten son," 
(Fig. 3). 

The triangle is therefore the symbol of Satisfaction, 
for the only true satisfaction is the response we feel to 
the force poured out through some form of union with 
the Divine. The only real satisfaction is experienced 
in the thrill of oneness that comes when a Ray from the 
Divine within us finds expression in manifestation on 
any plane, physical, mental or spiritual, from the thrill 
that results from an unselfish deed, a kind word or a 
generous forgiveness, to the ecstasy of conscious union 
with the Higher Self in the highest Initiation or in that 
most mystical sacrament "the marriage of the Lamb." 
Union between the positive and negative poles of dis- 
similar Rays may make a union on the physical plane, 
but it can never bring more than physical satisfaction. 
And as this can be but temporary, it cannot bring that 
true happiness which results from union on all planes. 

As man and woman are the "lords of creation," so 
must they in turn become the redeemers (the Dot 



The Number 3 



109 



above) of the lower kingdoms, and lift up all lower 
aspects of creation into a higher octave of expression. 
Even as Jesus said of the Christ within : "If I be lifted 
up I will draw all men unto me," so as man and woman 
are united and lift up The Christ within them will they 
draw all the lower pairs of opposites — the lower king- 
doms — unto them. 

Today there are many who, awakening to the vital 
ideal of true marriage, are no longer satisfied with the 
mere husks or outer conceptions of life so long consid- 
ered satisfying. They realize that in contracting a mar- 
riage the religious aspirations of both the man and the 
woman should be centered in the same spiritual ideals 
(the same Dot above), so that as both evolve and 
advance toward the realization of those ideals they 



may grow ever closer and closer, thus • 



A 



We 

may illustrate this by the following diagram, which is 
intended to be merely illustrative and not literal : 

PlM£0/ r P/}7//£tf£/?L/rr 



sp/ff/rvw <sc/y 




pmfw/wfmy/ffjr/tTyatf. 



I 



1 /V/?/y£OF 



Fig.% 






110 The Key to the Universe 

If, for instance, a positive personality of the Higher 
Self A unites with a negative personality of the same 
Higher Self A — to which it could alone truly belong — 
as they each advance spiritually and evolve upward 
toward the Higher Self of each they must necessarily 
grow closer to each other, for they are evolving toward 
union with the same overshadowing Dot. But if a 
positive personality of the Higher Self A should unite 
with a negative personality of another Dot or Higher 
Self, of which it is not an emanation — say of the Higher 
Selves B or C — then as each personality advanced spir- 
itually and evolved upward along its Ray toward union 
with its Higher Self, instead of the personalities grow- 
ing closer together on all planes, they must inevitably 
grow farther and farther apart on the higher planes — 
and this must ultimately lead to separation on the phys- 
ical plane — for each 1 is evolving toward union with 
a different Dot, thus : 




Therefore, there may develop great inharmony on 
the physical plane, not because they are becoming less 
spiritual, but because they are advancing and being 
drawn into different currents of force which do not 
harmonize. And as the great Law of Divine Love 
ever seeks greater and more perfect expressions of 
harmony, when whatever physical harmony there may 
have been at first has expressed itself, the Great Law 
tends to separate them that each may be able to man- 
ifest a higher state of harmony. In such cases separa- 
tion on the physical plane, instead of being a calamity, 
is a blessing and an absolute necessity for the spiritual 
advance of each. 



The Number 3 111 

In the marital relations of the present day these spir- 
itual lines of force are woefully mixed and tangled, both 
through the Karma of similar mistakes in the past and 
through allowing other considerations than Divine Love 
to bring about union on the physical plane. No matter 
how eugenically perfect the animal bodies of the parents 
may be, perfect love is the only force that will attract 
advanced Souls to incarnation in the perfect bodies 
furnished by the parents. Without it only such Souls 
will be attracted as are willing to incarnate under the 
loveless conditions offered. But as we enter into the 
cycle of the new Aquarian Age there must be a great 
readjustment and untangling process carried out as 
rapidly as the working out of past Karma permits, so 
that each may return to his or her true spiritual 
allegiance and make straight the crooked paths of spir- 
itual force ere the coming of The Christ. For The 
Christ — the essence of the Divine Dot — cannot mani- 
fest in perfection until its positive and negative vehicles 

are united and the Path made straight, thus / 



This is illustrated by the story of John the Baptist 
being clothed in skins and crying in the wilderness; 
for the Soul is clad in its animal nature (skin) and 
wanders in the wilderness of the outer life until the 
Path is made straight and a way for the manifestation 
of Divine Love through the Law of Unity is prepared. 

Therefore, from a geometrical standpoint we see 
that a marriage can never be truly harmonious unless 
there is a common source of interest or aspiration out- 
side of and above the personalities, in which the 2 can 
unite, or a common Dot into which the sides of the 
human triangle can merge. Even though both are 
expressions of the same Divine Self, if they are at all 
spiritually advanced and 1 of the 2 seeks further spir- 
itual advance through 1 school of religious or occult 



112 The Key to the Universe 

teaching while the other seeks in a divergent school — 
for instance, if 1 be a Catholic and the other a Prot- 
estant, or 1 an Occultist and the other an orthodox 
literal Christian — they must at least temporarily grow 
apart in the higher realms, even if they remain together 
on the physical-plane, because they are separated in the 
higher realization and expression of their oneness. 
Of course such persons will come together ultimately 
through a higher understanding, but only after a 
period of suffering which should be unnecessary. In 
such cases the course of their evolution, 1st separating 
for a time and then returning, may be represented, 
not by a triangle, but by a hexagram, the figure which 
forms the center of the interlaced triangles, thus : 



V 

Fig.5 

This figure is the center of the Seal of Solomon or 
the Heart of Wisdom, hence they will reach their true 
union, through the suffering of spiritual loneliness 
etc., only after they have found the Heart of Wis- 
dom. And if 1 subordinates his or her spiritual ideals 
to the other the spiritual growth of both is retarded. 
In other words, only as the lives of both are blended 



The Number 3 113 

on all planes and are centered in a common ideal out- 
side of and above their personalities, can they grow 
into that perfect spiritual oneness represented by the 

overshadowing Dot A. 

As this spiritual oneness is attained the 2 manifes- 
tations grow closer and closer together on the base 
line — the physical plane — until finally, instead of 
reaching the Divine along the slanting, complementary 
lines forming the sides of the triangle, the forces from 
each are indrawn to the center where they blend into 
the vertical line — the straight and narrow Path — 
which reaches in oneness direct to the Divine within, 

thus / \ • Therefore we would say that the effect- 

Z I \ 

ive remedy for the divorce evil is to teach, firstly, the 
necessity for a oneness of spiritual ideals, and sec- 
ondly, the necessity of both Souls following the Divine 
guidance of their overshadowing Dot until, through 
prayer and meditation, they receive the positive assur- 
ance from within that their lines of spiritual evolution 
converge toward the same spiritual Dot or that their 
Souls had emerged from and are evolving back to the 
same Divine Source, the creative Dot or Over-Soul 
overshadowing the 1 triangle. But before they can 
do this they must be sure that they have freed them- 
selves of self-deception and a determined self-will 
which makes the thing they want seem to be the right 
thing, even though it requires excuse after excuse to 
make it plausible. 

On the other hand do not be too hasty in 
deciding that each is evolving toward a different 
center, for it may be that in reality both are 
seeking the same point, but have not yet found the 
straight and narrow Path common to both, or even 
realized that their complementary lines will ultimately 



114 The Key to the Universe 

reach the same Dot. For even the fact that they have 
recognized their spiritual unity does not mean that 
there will be no more unpleasant lessons to learn, no 
friction in the adjustments necessary on the physical 
plane. But whatever frictions may develop and what- 
ever inharmonies may assail them, their unity in the 
higher realms will enable them to recognize the true 
nature of these and look upon them as tests meant to 
prove them, while the overshadowing Divine Love 
will give them the strength to overcome such condi- 
tions and make them but transitory storms which clear 
the air. A little extra patience and toleration and a 
willingness to give up a preconceived idea as to what 
is the only or best way to reach the goal may open 
their eyes to the fact that each is seeking the same 
divine Dot, but has a different way of manifesting it 
for the time being. Only as we permit the divine Dot 
to shine into our hearts and draw our Souls into one- 
ness with It can we attain the wisdom and love which 
will draw to us that which is our own and reveal to 
us beyond the possibility of mistake our next step. 

This teaching must not be made the excuse for di- 
vorce without adequate cause ; 3 for a union, even though 
it may not be ideal, may nevertheless be the means of 
teaching the most important lessons of this incarna- 
tion. And as we do not limit ourselves to the 1 life- 
period, there is plenty of time for adjustment in ac- 
cordance with the Law. 



3 For our teachings on divorce see Letters from the Teacher, Curtiss, 
chapter, The Sex Problem. 



CHAPTER 13 

the number 3 — (Continued). 

"The perfect word is the triad, because it 
supposes an intelligent principle, a speaking 
principle, and a principle spoken." 

— Transcendental Magic, Levi, 45. 

"The heavens were produced from Fire; the 
earth from water; and the Air from the Spirit 
is as a reconciler between the Fire and the 
Water." 

— Sepher Yetzirah, 19. 

Number 3 is "the Word made flesh and dwelling 
among us," for it is the base line or the magnetic 
attraction which unites the positive and negative forces 
and completes the triangle. Similarly the sun is a 
manifestation of the Trinity as force, i. e., heat, light 
and electricity, all of which are expressions of the 
divine Spiritual Fire or "cold flame" represented by 
number 1. This Spiritual Flame cannot enter the 
physical plane without manifesting these 3 aspects. 
Science tells us that if a gas — and theoretically all 
substances when in a gaseous state — could be reduced 
to a temperature called "absolute zero" ( — 273°), it 
would disappear or cease to exist ; hence heat is a 
prime requisite for any form of manifestation. When 
heat is increased or its vibrations raised to a certain 
degree light appears, and when the note of vibration 
is still further increased electricity or radiant energy 
manifests. 

Number 1 in 1 sense may be compared to man and 
to the heat of the sun, its active principle ; number 2, 
to woman or the light of the sun, its passive principle, 
while number 3 would stand for the son or that mag- 



116 The Key to the Universe 

netism which exists between positive and negative, 
heat and light, man and woman, that the 2 may mani- 
fest in oneness of being. From another standpoint 
the sun may also be used to symbolize the Father-in- 
heaven, the light of the Son sent forth to redeem the 
darkness, while the magnetism would be the Holy 
Ghost, the unseen magnetic energy which is forever 
with us. It is the Comforter in that it reconciles the 
extremes or pairs of opposites; the Revealer which 
shows them in their true relations. It shall bring all 
things to our remembrance, i. e., that we may never 
forget the fact that no matter how lost in the darkness 
we may seem to be, we can always see the Light shin- 
ing from our Father's home to illumine our Path, if 
we will but turn our faces toward it. As we realize 
that this spiritual magnetism pervades our body, brain 
and consciousness — as it pervades all nature and the 
universe — we find that it is a link which binds the 
microcosm (man) to the macrocosm. Hence, just as 
a paleontologist can reconstruct a prehistoric animal 
from 1 bone, so can we, if we find within ourselves 1 
substance that is identical in man, nature and the 
Cosmos or 1 thread running through and connecting 
all, by studying that substance and correlating our 
consciousness with that thread, bring all things to 
our remembrance; for man, being a Ray from the 
Divine, does not so much acquire new knowledge as 
he gradually remembers the knowledge that was his 
in the realms of the Divine — his Father's home. 

Heat is the result of the resistance offered by matter 
to the activity of the Spiritual Flame. Heat may be 
said to be the lowest and most physical expression or 
body of Fire. Light is produced by the overcoming 
of the resistance that a greater expression of Fire — 
its Soul, so to speak — may manifest. Electricity or 
radiant energy may be considered as the spirit of 



The Number 3 — (Continued) 117 

Divine Fire, just as heat is its foody and light or solar 
fire its soul. Hence electricity or radiant energy is 
the most potent of all known manifestations of force. 
But man has as yet touched only its outer and most 
gross manifestation, for he scarce knows the a-b-c of 
that Power of which electricity is but 1 manifestation. 
As he enters the new sub-race the discovery of other 
and greater aspects and manifestations of that Power 
will be the opening of a door which will admit him 
into a new world of force and energy. But as long 
as he is capable of utilizing his knowledge of the 
higher forms of force for selfish purposes and for the 
destruction of his fellow men, through engines of war, 
etc., the door will be kept closed against him. 

All life is a manifestation of the Trinity or number 
3, but since man has not yet mastered its 3 expressions 
he is subject to them. When he completes the crea- 
tion of his spiritual or Nirmanakaya body 1 the heat 
will manifest as the glow of Immortal Youth and 
health, the light as Divine Illumination and the elec- 
tricity as the Spirit permeating every atom of that 
body. Then shall man be master of all his forces. 

Since the density of the physical body of unevolved 
man, together with his mental darkness, offers great 
resistance to the manifestation of the Spiritual Fire 
and prevents him from working in harmony with the 
Divine Life-forces, physical and mental suffering re- 
sult. Hence the results of resistance to Divine Law 
are represented by a hell of blackness, intolerable heat 
and suffering (the Christian idea of hell), while the 
heaven world, in which the resistance is overcome, is 
represented as a realm of glorious Light and joy, the 
Spirit being the power which converts the hell into a 
heaven. Similarly, electricity corresponds to the mag- 
netic force which forms the Path and mediates between 
heaven and hell, or The Christ which descends into hell 

1 See Letters from the Teacher, 68. 



118 The Key to the Universe 

as a consuming fire, but dwells in heaven as a radiant 
Light. 

The tripod has the same symbology as the triangle 
and was used in many mystic ceremonies in the ancient 
temples. The most famous was the Delphic Tripod 
or sacrificial altar upon which the Pythian Priestess 
sat while delivering the oracles of the gods. After 
chewing a sacred bay leaf and drinking from the 
sacred spring Cassotis (the Water of Life), the priest- 
ess took her seat upon a tripod placed in the inner 
shrine, and there answered the questions that had been 
previously submitted in writing. In other words, be- 
fore receiving the revelation from the Divine the Vir- 
gin Priestess must drink of the true spiritual "Waters 
of Life," i. e., must have received the illumination of 
Divine Wisdom, so that her eyes are opened and her 
mind illumined to comprehend the spiritual symbols 
given her and translate them into their corresponding 
terms or allegories ; for only such an 1 can be a true 
Priestess and be used as an avenue through which the 
Waters of Life can flow forth for the healing of the 
nations. So must the Priestess of the Home have her 
eyes opened and her mind illumined through the con- 
summation of the alchemical sacrifice in which the 
spiritual power of perfect love turns the Waters of 
Life into the Wine of the Spirit. 

As the true office of the Priestess became overlaid 
with misconceptions, priestcraft and selfishness, too 
often the Pythian Priestess was but a subjective me- 
dium or perhaps a clairvoyant who could merely relate 
what she saw, without the illumination of Divine 
Wisdom correctly to interpret the visions seen, hence 
the subsequent degradation of her high office. 

Another celebrated tripod was the "Plataen." This 
was made from a 10th part of the spoils taken from 
the Persian army after the battle of Plataea. It con- 



The Number 3 — (Continued) 119 

sisted of a golden basin supported by a bronze serpent 
with 3 heads, or 3 serpents intertwined, within the 
golden bowl of which the sacred fire was kept burning. 
The golden bowl here has the same symbology as the 
Holy Grail, i. e., the receptacle in which the creative 
Christ-force is caught that it may bring forth. So 
frequently was the tripod used as a receptacle for dedi- 
catory offerings to the gods that there was a street in 
Athens called the "Street of Tripods," from the large 
number of such tripods dedicated to various gods and 
containing live coals upon which passing pedestrians 
could sprinkle incense. Hence, from its true symbol- 
ogy, every home should have its mystic tripod. No 
Priest and Priestess of the Home who have lit the fire 
of Divine Love in the Golden Bowl need ever fear 
separation ; for all the little differences and inharmo- 
nies will be consumed in the purifying Flame of that 
Love. 

According to the Sepher Yetsirah: 2 "The Three 
Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, are a great Mystery, 
very admirable and most recondite, and sealed with 
six rings ; and from them proceed Air, Fire and 
Water, which divide into male and female forces. The 
Three Mothers, Aleph, Mem and Shin, are the Foun- 
dation, from them spring three Fathers, and from 
these have proceeded all things that are in the world 
* * * from the fire was made heat, from the waters was 
made cold, and from air was produced the temperate 
state, again a mediator between them. * * * Fire, 
Water and Air are found in Man: from fire was 
formed the head ; from the water the belly ; and from 
the air was formed the chest, again placed as a media- 
tor between the others." In the Bible we again find 
these 3 Mothers in the 3 women at the tomb. The 
letter M itself means both mother and water, each 
name beginning with M having some connection with 

3 Chapter iii. 



120 The Key to the Universe 

the idea of water or motherhood; for example, Mare 
or Mary is the sea or the Great Deep, the Mother of 
all Living, etc. 

In the Kabalistic Trinity — Kether, Chokmah and 
Binah — the 3rd Sephira, Binah, is called Understand- 
ing. The 1st Sephira is Divine Love and the 2nd is Wis- 
dom, but so long as they are not joined by an under- 
standing of their divine qualities they are like 2 
straight lines running side by side which can never 
unite until a 3rd line, the mediator, joins them, thus 
completing the manifestation of the 2, positive and 
negative, masculine and feminine. The 3rd Sephira 
is sometimes called the Great Mother who brings 
forth for the lower planes of manifestation. For only 
through an understanding of Divine Love and Wis- 
dom can we bring them forth in our lives. 

According to the Kabbalah the ideas of the learned 
Rabbis are as follows : "The soul is veiled in light. 
This light is triple: Neschamah, the pure spirit; 
Ruach, the soul or spirit ; Nephesch, the plastic media- 
tor. * * * The body is the veil of Nephesch, 
Nephesch is the veil of Ruach, Ruach is the veil of 
the shroud of Neschamah. * * * There are 3 
habitations of souls : the Abyss of Life ; the superior 
Eden ; the inferior Eden. * * * There are 3 at- 
mospheres for the souls. The third atmosphere fin- 
ishes where the planetary attraction of other worlds 
commences. Souls perfected on this earth pass on to 
another station. After traversing the planets they 
come to the sun; then they ascend into another uni- 
verse and recommence their planetary evolution from 
world to world and from sun to sun. In the sun they 
remember, and in the planets they forget. - The solar 
lives are days of Eternal Life, and the planetary lives 
are nights with their dreams." 3 

» The Kabbalah Revealed, Mathers, 36-7. 



The Number 3 — (Continued) 121 

Noah, who is a symbol of the 1 God or the Spirit 
of God moving on the face of the waters, had 3 sons, 
Shem, Ham and Japheth. This is an allegory sym- 
bolizing that the 1 must manifest on earth as the 3. 
Abraham, "the father of all living," entertained 3 
angels who told him his wife or the feminine expres- 
sion, would bring forth a son in whom all mankind 
would be blessed; that is, through this son the subse- 
quent races would manifest the 3 fold Divine Fire. 
The 3 children of Judah cast in the fiery furnace by 
Nebuchadnezzar symbolize the same thing in another 
aspect, *. e., the fiery furnace represents the resistance 
of physical matter (hell) and the adverse earthly con- 
ditions through which the 3 expressions of the Divine 
walk unharmed. Jonah spent 3 days in the belly of 
the great fish; the ministry of Jesus began at 30 and 
lasted 3 years. He said: "Destroy this temple, and 
in three days I will raise it up." He also lay for 3 
days in the tomb. 4 All these allegories are glyphs 
symbolizing the fact that the Father-ray (1) after 
descending into the tomb of matter (2) must remain 
hidden in the pairs of opposites until the Trinity or 
triangle can manifest upon the physical plane (4), 
thus fulfilling the ancient occult axiom, "The Unit 
becomes the Three, and the Three generate the Four." 
Or, as the Kabalists say: "The Deity is one, because 
It is infinite. It is triple, because It is ever manifest- 
ing." Each of the "days" referred to symbolizes the 
period required for 1 aspect to complete its manifes- 
tation. And only as man's body becomes able to ex- 
press in their fullness the 3 aspects of the Divine Fire 
■ — until The Christ can rise from the tomb on the 3rd 
day — can it be raised up to become truly the Temple 
of the Living God. 

Let number 3 remind you of the manifestations of 
the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; of the 

* See lesson Three Days in the Tomb. 



122 The Key to the Universe 

mystical meaning of heat, light and electricity ; of 
matter, force and consciousness ; of the triangle with 
its base solidly established on earth yet ever pointing 
upward ; of man and woman united and perfectly bal- 
anced in the physical life, yet evolving upward to one- 
ness in the same overshadowing Dot or the Divine 
Marriage. Let 3 remind you of the 3 parties to the 
marriage tie — the man, the woman and the Divine 
Overshadowing — hence the beauty and sacredness of 
a true marriage, the ideal life as long as mankind 
manifests in separated sexes. 

the zy 2 . 

The Zy 2 , being l / 2 of 7, is frequently referred to with 
mystical significance. When the mighty angel in 
Revelation {xi, 1) gave the reed with which to measure 
the "temple of God, and the altar, and them that wor- 
ship therein," the command was given not to measure 
the outer court, "for it is given unto the Gentiles : and 
the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two 
months" or 2>y 2 years. This is most significant, for 
the Temple is the physical body, while the altar is the 
inner shrine of the heart. Those who truly worship 
in this sacred Temple and find The Christ upon the 
altar will be measured, i. e., will be understood, 
weighed and given a just balance. But those who 
dwell merely in the outer courts, i. e., those who dwell 
merely in the outer sense perceptions, are the Gentiles, 
the unbelievers who are not measured or required to 
live up to the higher standards. They are given another 
y 2 cycle of Zy 2 years in which to learn their lessons, 
even though they tread the outer courts under foot. 

According to tradition Jesus remained hidden in 
Egypt for Zy 2 years. In the allegory of the woman 
clothed with the sun, 5 she dwelt in the wilderness "one 

• Revelation, xii, 6. 



The 3y 2 123 

thousand two hundred and three score days" or 2> J / 2 
cycles of 360 each. We also read of the mystical 2 
witnesses as follows : "I will give power unto my two 
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two 
hundred and three score days," 6 again 3^ years. And 
all people "shall see their dead bodies three days and 
a half." According to Daniel (xii, ?), the misfor- 
tunes of the children of Israel were to last "For a 
time, times, and a half." 

In the life of the sincere seeker after Truth, 3 l / 2 
represents a most trying and troublous period, for the 
manifestation of the Deity (the 3) has descended upon 
him ; The Christ-child has been born in his heart, but 
must be nourished in the obscurity and darkness of 
Egypt — the outer life. He has consecrated his life to 
the Great Work and his heart is on fire to begin his 
ministry. Then, in some inexplicable way, life plunges 
him into the darkness of Egypt — poverty, sickness or 
some form of limitation and depression. His hands 
seem tied, and the Great Work which he would do he 
cannot do. All things seem to prevent him from giv- 
ing his time, thought and strength to the upliftment of 
humanity. The so-called sordid duties of every day 
life which press upon him and demand his attention 
he still has to perform while he fights against the 
clouds of depression which surround him. He has 
sanctified his Holy Temple, and daily performs his 
worship therein. He has set up his altar within the 
Holy of Holies where the fires of purification burn 
continually, fed by the daily sacrifice of the faults, 
failings and limitations which he recognizes and con- 
sciously desires to transmute. Yet the outer courts 
are still occupied by the Gentiles. And the noise of 
their songs and merry-making, and of their dancing 
feet ruthlessly treading underfoot, in laughing indif- 
ference, the things he holds sacred, comes constantly 

8 Revelation, xi, 1-3, 9. 



124 The Key to the Universe 

to his ears. Sometimes this merely disturbs his wor- 
ship, but at other times it is disquietingly alluring and 
seductive ; for it is hard at this step to know just how 
to remain in the world yet not be of it. But there is 
a deep significance in the experience of this step; for 
he is but following the universal law ; is but passing 
through the transitional experiences of 3^ prepara- 
tory to completing his Foundation Stone in number 4. 



CHAPTER 14 



the 3rd letter, Gimel ( j ) 

"He produced Gimel, and referred it to Health ; 
He crowned it, combined and joined with it 
Mars in the Universe, the second day of the 
week, and the right ear of man." 

— Sepher Yetsirah, 22. 

The 3rd letter is Gimel, the 2nd of the 7 double 
letters, corresponding to our letter G. It is related 
to health and its opposite, disease, and also to the 
planet Mars. The force of Mars is the bright red 
blood or life-force of the Cosmos, hence Mars rules 
the blood which preserves the life and health in man, 
but if the blood be impure it produces fevers, humors 
and divers manners of diseases. Because of this con- 
nection the blood shed in battle is looked upon as a 
sacrifice to Mars, the god of life-force, of struggle, 
battle and overcoming. The force of Mars also brings 
courage, enthusiasm and the unrelenting effort which 
ever pushes on and overcomes all obstacles and diffi- 
culties. In its lower aspects this force manifests in 
an unfavorable and disintegrating manner through 
anger, passion, war and bloodshed. Mars represents 
that force referred to in the Bible as the blood of "the 
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," x or 
the spiritual life-force which shall cleanse us from sin 
and by the sacrifice of whose shedding we must be 
redeemed. For just as the physical body is cleansed 
from disease and saved from death by being bathed 
in the purified blood which must wash each organ and 
tissue, so must the spiritual life-force bathe and purify 
every phase of our 7 fold being ere we can enter into 
eternal life. 



1 Revelation, xiii, 8. 



126 The Key to the Universe 

The literal meaning of Gimel is a camel. Altho 
the Hebrew name for camel is gamal, it may require 
some imagination to see any relation between the letter 
itself and a camel. Yet the camel bears a very close 
analogy to the true meaning of the letter, for on ac- 
count of its ability to store up large quantities of 
water, in desert countries the camel is looked upon as 
the Carrier of Life. Symbolically Gimel has come to 
mean that which encloses, a hollow tube or that which 
transmits vital life-force, such as an artery, etc. 
Hieroglyphically Gimel means "a hand, half closed 
and extended (reaching out like a camel) in order to 
draw to its possessor that which is needed for his own 
sustenance; so, finally Gimel comes to mean a hollow 
tube or canal (like the camel's neck)," and in man is 
sometimes referred to the throat. The throat con- 
tains a most important center, for it is here that the 
ideas conceived in thought and translated into words 
are enunciated into intelligible sounds. Man alone 
of all beings has this center developed, hence man 
alone can translate thought into comprehensible 
speech. Astronomically Gimel is associated with the 
star Alcyone in the neck of the Bull (Taurus) around 
which our universe is said to revolve. 

Gimel has sometimes had ascribed to it a phallic 
meaning. But while the phallus may in a sense rep- 
resent it, since generation is but a reflection in matter 
of the Great Mystery by which Spirit unites itself to 
matter, the Divine becomes flesh and dwells among us, 
we can see that it has a far deeper and more sacred 
meaning than physical generation. In 1 sense, just as 
Aleph symbolizes man and the force and activity of 
the physical plane, and as Beth symbolizes woman, the 
passive and receptive Principle, so Gimel symbolizes 
the magnetic link between them. Only as this mag- 
netic attraction is regarded by them as a sacred gift en- 



The 3rd Letter, Gimel 127 

trusted, to them to be used to erect in humanity the 
symbolic Temple of Solomon — the Temple of Wis- 
dom — can man and woman or Aleph and Beth become 
the 2 pillars Jakin and Boas with Gimel as the arch 
which unites the 2 and completes the portal, the door 
through which alone mankind can enter into the Holy 
of Holies. Here The Christ forever stands and cries : 
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not 
by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some 
other way, the same is a thief and a robber." 2 

2 St. John, x, 1. 



THE 3rd TAROT CARD 

THE EMPRESS 





MEDIEVAL 




i ; IN|PERAT Rii:L 



m 







THE EMPRESS 



EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



The 3rd Tarot Cord, The Empress 129 

the 3rd tarot card, The Empress 

This card is called "the Empress" and also the Son, 
Horus, the vivifying principle of the universe. It is 
represented as a woman seated and seen full face. She 
is seated upon the Throne of the Sun and has 2 great 
wings. In her right hand is an escutcheon bearing an 
upright Eagle with outspread wings, while in her left 
hand she holds a Scepter surmounted by a globe and 
the symbol of Venus. She is crowned with either 12 
stars or a Crown with 12 points. 

This card as a whole symbolizes the ultimate tri- 
umph of the generative force when balanced, lifted up 
and purified by the Sun of Righteousness, seated on 
the throne of this world and crowned with the 12 
signs of the zodiac. The Eagle is Scorpio, the snake 
of generative force lifted up into regeneration, or 
freed from its perverted aspects and able to soar up- 
ward to the sun. The Scepter crowned by the symbol 
of Venus is the power of Motherhood, through which 
she rules and uplifts the generative force. It also 
indicates that only through the feminine principles of 
love, intuition and obedience to the forces of the zodiac, 
can the Empress reign in freedom and love. Again, 
as the Eagle is also the symbol of the Soul and the 
Scepter the symbol of life, together they indicate the 
Holy Ghost, the magnetic force of Divine Love per- 
meating humanity and attracting mankind back to 
godhood and the Divine Marriage, even as men and 
women are attracted by a lower manifestation of the 
same force in ordinary marriage. 

The Crown, whose 12 points represent the 12 stars, 
indicates the Path and the Power by which humanity 
can gather up and utilize the 12 forces of the zodiac, 
but only as the Great Mother-force of Love is en- 
throned in the sun, and the Soul, like the Eagle, is free 



130 The Key to the Universe 

to seek its home in the radiant light of Divine Love. 
It also indicates that when generation is sanctified and 
illumined by the Spiritual Sun it will be crowned with 
the 12 powers of the zodiac. Then the iron rod of 
passion will be turned into the golden Scepter of Love 
Supreme. Since the Empress combines the feminine 
principles of love and intuition with the masculine 
principles of will and power, this symbol indicates that 
the feminine or negative force of the universe has been 
combined with the masculine or positive force to form 
the equilibrated force of the Son or collective human- 
ity, which when it manifests these 2 forces in equi- 
librium shall rule the world. This card also indicates 
the sacred word AUM, the creator, preserver and de- 
stroyer. The destruction takes place only that out of 
that which was vile the mighty Venus-Urania may 
re-create higher and better manifestations. This card 
therefore symbolizes hieroglyphically, the conveyor of 
the life- force; kabalistically, understanding; astro- 
nomically, Venus as the spouse of Mars, the conveyor 
of the life-force to earth. 



THE 3RD COMMANDMENT. 

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
(Law) thy God in vain; for the Lord (Law) 
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name 
in vain." 

— Exodus, xx, 7. 

According to P. Christian, ' "To pronounce a word 
is to evoke a thought, and make it present; the mag- 
netic potency of human speech is the commencement 
of every manifestation in the Occult World. To utter 
a Name is not only to define a Being (and Entity), 
but to place it under, and condemn it through the 
emission of the Word (Verbum) to the influence of 



The 3rd Commandment 131 

one or more Occult potencies. Things are, for every- 
one of us, that which it (the Word) makes them while 
naming them. The Word (Verbum) or the speech 
of every man is, quite unconsciously to himself, a 
blessing or a curse; * * * they are, in a certain 
sense, either venomous or health-giving, according to 
the hidden influence attached by the Supreme Wisdom 
to their elements, that is 'to say, to the letters which 
compose them, and the numbers correlative to these 
letters. This is strictly true as an esoteric teaching 
accepted by all the Eastern Schools of Occultism." 8 

The Name referred to in the Commandment is not 
Jehovah nor the name of any 1 Divine Being, but 
embraces every expression of the Divine Creative 
Potency. It is fitting that this should be Command- 
ment number 3, since 3 is a symbol of the Trinity or 
the 3 fold expression of the Law of thy Good mani- 
festing in all things. This Name or signature of the 
Divine Law is always expressed as a Trinity, (a) 
Divine Ideation, (b) its outpouring into manifestation 
or embodiment and (c) the result produced. 

In its largest sense, therefore, the name of the Lord 
thy God comprises all the expressions by which the 
forces back of manifestation and evolution can be 
invoked. This is the ineffable Name or expression 
which man is unable to pronounce in its fulness until 
he is more than man. While man is the only animal 
with the power of expressing his conceptions in articu- 
late speech, nevertheless the vibrations of the Creative 
Word which brought all things into manifestation 
reach down into every kingdom of nature and compose 
the mighty Army of the Voice. It is through these 
vibrations, invoked by man through the use of words 
and tones, that man affects every kingdom and awak- 
ens vibrations corresponding to his words and tones. 
These vibrations either help to harmonize, evolve and 

» S. D., I, 121. 



132 The Key to the Universe 

perfect all expressions of the Law (Lord) or they 
help to create inharmony and resistance to the Law, 
which must result in disintegration and death instead 
of integration and life. All words, like the sacred 
AUM 4 contain the Trinity or number 3 manifesting 
as the forces of creation, preservation and disintegra- 
tion. If the forms in the lower kingdoms did not die 
and disintegrate as a result of their response to the 
unharmonized, hence antagonistic vibrations awakened 
and sent forth by man, this world would long since 
have become a vast pandemonium of discordant, hide- 
ous sounds and terrifying noises. 

Since every word uttered invokes the manifestation 
of certain of the potencies of the 3 or the Divine 
Trinity, words which pervert the Reality which they 
should express ; words which do not embody and 
express truth, harmony and love, as well as words 
which definitely invoke and express inharmony, slan- 
der and evil, carry with them the seeds of disintegra- 
tion and death, and therefore take the Name of the 
Lord thy God (Law of Divine Love and Harmony) 
in vain. It is a most important task for the aspirant 
who would be more than man, as well as for the man 
who would be master of himself and his environment, 
both to speak words that are true and have back of 
them the potent and constructive forces of Good, also 
to make the tones of his voice express the truth and 
sincerity of his heart. "But I say unto you, That 
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give 
account thereof in the dav of judgment. For by thy 
words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words shalt 
thou be condemned." 5 

Since every letter of every word we speak has a 
numerical value, and since numerals are symbols of 
the cosmic expression of Divine Realities, whose mani- 
festation normally should and ultimately must obey 

* Often written OM, although a 3 fold word. Its pronunciation 
involves 3 centers, for the Sanskrit O has the value of AU. 
' St. Matthew, xii, 36-7. 



The 3rd Commandment 133 

the divine Law of Harmony under the guidance of 1 
of the 10 Sephiroth, all misused words will inevitably 
set up inharmony. And in the process of bringing 
harmony out of such perversions the Great Law of 
Karma will not hold him, i. e., the 1 speaking the false 
or inharmonious words, guiltless. Therefore, while 
cursing and blaspheming may be called the extreme of 
taking the Name of the Lord in vain, nevertheless we 
take that Name in vain in the many lesser degrees 
indicated above. While none of us are guiltless, yet 
the karmic Law metes out exact justice to all. The 
great mass of humanity who thoughtlessly and igno- 
rantly take the Name in vain suffer from the results 
in a general way, through the inharmonies expressed 
through nature, i. e., climatic conditions, storms, earth- 
quakes, disease germs, the antagonism of the lower 
kingdoms, etc., and all the various disintegrating 
manifestations of the Army of the Voice. Still those 
who wilfully and with malice in their hearts slander, 
lie, curse, blaspheme and defy the Lord their God, 
either as a Supreme Being or as their fellow men made 
in His image, literally defy the Law of their Good and 
hence will reap a personal Karma of inharmony, suf- 
fering, disease, disintegration and death commensu- 
rate with the forces they, as creators, have thus in- 
voked to manifest through them. 

While the Law cannot hold us guiltless, until by a 
full understanding and determined effort we have fully 
grasped its mighty Truth and become 1 with it ; until 
we have lived it and expressed the Name in all its 
aspects in our flesh, nevertheless the Law rewards 
in exact justice every effort toward manifesting its 
Harmony and Love through the right use of speech; 
through speech that is true, kind and loving. Every 
false or inharmonious expression that is conquered 
and replaced by a true and harmonious 1 is like a radi- 



134 The Key to the Universe 

ant star in the firmament of our lives, which will never 
be extinguished but will go on shedding upon us its 
light, life and power until the Sun of Righteousness 
shall rise and flood all our world with the Light of 
the New Day. 



CHAPTER 15 

THE NUMBER 4. 

"This number (4) * * * comprehends all 
powers, both of productive and produced num- 
bers * * * Two multiplied into itself produces 4; 
and retorted into itself makes the first cube. 
This cube is the fertile number, the ground 
of multitude and variety * * * Thus the two 
principles of temporal things, the pyramid and 
cube, form and matter, flow from one fountain, 
the tetragon (on earth, the monad in heaven)." 
— Reuchlin e Cabola, Oliver, I, ii, 104. 

When the Trinity descends and manifests upon the 
physical plane creation is said to be completed, i. e., 
when the upper triangle is reflected in the lower, with 
the diameter common to them both. This descent 
into the lower half of the circle generates the square 

thus K^ ^ . Hence 4 is the Number of the Physical 

Plane, the most perfect of mundane numbers, for 
according to occult mathematics it contains the po- 
tency of 10, the entire cycle of manifestation. 

There are 2 important laws used in occult mathe- 
matics, namely, occult Addition and occult Reduction. 
Occult addition is used to ascertain the occult value or 
potency of any single figure. This is obtained by 
adding together all the numbers from 1 up to and 
including the 1 indicated. Thus 4 contains the po- 
tency of 10 because 1 +2+3+4=10. Following this 
law, 7 also equals 10, for 1+24-3+4+5+6+7=28 
=10. 

By occult reduction we ascertain the ultimate value 
of any number containing more than 1 figure, ex- 



136 The Key to the Universe 

pressed in terms of 1 of the first 9 digits. This is 
accomplished by adding together horizontally the fig- 
ures composing the number and repeating this process 
until the sum is expressed in 1 figure. All numbers 
may thus be reduced to 1 of the first 9 digits, thus: 
11=2, 12=3, 19=10=1, 144=9, 999=27=9, 777= 
21=3, 1915=16=7, etc. 

Continuing this process, if we arrange the figures 
from 1 to 19 in groups of 3, forming 7 trinities, we see 
that every 4th number is an expression or further 
elaboration of 1 or unity, as the following tables will 
show: 

Table 1 . Table 2. These tables show 

1. 1—2—3 1=1 that the trinity 

2. 4—5 — 6 4=10=1 manifests 

3. 7—8—9 7=28=10=1 through 6 peri- 

4. 10—11—12 10=1 ods or "days of 

5. 13—14—15 13=4=10=1 creation" and 

6. 16—17—18 16=7=28=10=1 rests or is syn- 

7. 19 19=10=1 thesized or sum- 

med up in the 
7th, 19, which completes the cycle of manifestation, 
or 10, bringing all back again to unity 1, but in a 
higher cycle. This shows that 4 completes the 1st 
series or group of numbers, from which all others are 
derived, just as there are 4 fundamental geometrical 
figures O I A □ from which all others are derived. 
The line in motion generates the 0> the A and □. 
And applied to solid figures the O generates the 
sphere and cylinder, the A generates the pyramid and 
the cone, while the □ generates the cube and the 
pillar. 

Geometrically the figure 4 is formed by joining the 

right arm of the cross with the apex, thus £- — \, which 



The Number 4 137 

symbolizes man standing upright and holding in his 
right hand the A of Divinity. The geometrical figure 
corresponding to 4 is the square, the base of the pyra- 
mid, the most stable of all geometrical forms. Hence, 
both 4 and the □ are symbols of all that is stable, en- 
during and perfect upon the earth plane. In astrology 
the □ aspect is considered an evil one, symbolizing the 
inertia and limitations of matter, yet it can be rendered 
most fortunate if made into a Foundation Stone upon 
which to build the life; the cubic stone with which 
to measure and test all conditions. 

The square is generated not only by the reflection 
)of the Trinity (Triangle) in matter , but also 
by uniting the 4 ends of the cosmic cross 

The ancients represented the Divine Man crucified 
within a circle, hence the cosmic cross represents the 
crucifixion which must take place that the Deity may 
manifest in his creations. The figure of the cross is 
not an artificial symbol arbitrarily chosen, for it is 
not only formed naturally by the line containing all 
the neutral points between the positive and negative 
poles of every circle (the equator), and crossing the 

N 

axis at right angles, thus£ — 4, but it is also naturally 

s 

formed in the heavens by the 4 bright stars Of the 1st 
magnitude which mark the cardinal points in the 
heavens, i.e., Aldebaran (North), the Eye of Taurus 
the Bull; Ant ares (East), the Heart of Scorpio the 
Eagle; Regulus (West), the Heart of Leo the Lion, 
and Fomalhaut (South), the Eye of the Southern Fish, 
or the constellation Aquarius the Man. 



138 The Key to the Universe 

As we have said elsewhere : "It is a great mistake 
to think that the cross was first brought into notice 
in history during the Christian era. It was already 
an ancient and sacred symbol long before any of the 
Races now on earth began. In fact, it is almost im- 
possible to go far enough back in the earth's history 
to find a period in which this symbol was not known. 1 
Indeed we are told that the cross was not identified 
with the crucifixion of the man Jesus during the early 
centuries of the Christian era ; for "no figure of a man 
appears upon the Cross during the Urst six or seven 
centuries. * * * The earliest known form of the 
human figure on the cross is the crucifix presented by 
Pope Gregory the Great to Queen Theodolinde of 
Lombardy, now in the Church of St. John at Monga, 
whilst no image of the Crucified is found in the cata- 
combs at Rome earlier than that of San Ginlio, be- 
longing to the seventh or eighth century." 2 

The cross is universally used to symbolize the out- 
pouring of the divine, creative Life-essence — the Cos- 
mic Christos — that it may manifest within the world 
of creation as the creative Christ-force or that Power 
which is the Urge back of and the Cause of all evolu- 
tion, whether or not the blood (life- force poured out) 
of a crucified man is the picture used to emphasize the 
more esoteric symbology. The Egyptian cross or Tau 
(-[-) had this same significance, in fact it was worn 
not as a symbol of death or of human sacrifice, but 
as a protecting talisman which focused a power which 
would help the wearer to unfold his godlike possibili- 
ties through the crucifixion of the human and the 
balancing of the pairs of opposites. It was laid upon 
the breast of the Neophyte when, during his Initia- 
tion he was placed in a mystic sleep and laid in a crypt 
or tomb for 3 days. It was also placed upon the 
breast of the dead after embalmment. The Swastika japn 



1 See lesson on The Meaning of the Cross. 
3 The Natural Genesis, Massy, I, 433. 



The Number 4 139 

or Thor's Hammer, another form of the balanced 
cross, is commonly worn as a talisman. In the life 
of the Neophyte it is supposed to bring about purifi- 
cation, adjustment and balance by blows from its 
whirling ends or by the hard knocks of Karma, hence 
its name "Hammer of Thor." All these various forms 
of the cross symbolize number 4, because Spirit cannot 
penetrate matter or manifest in creation without form- 
ing the cross. And man cannot become spiritualized 
and enter the realm of the Divine without passing his 
Initiation by balancing his positive and negative forces 
through the upliftment of the lower segment of the 
cross, as it rests in the mire of earth, until the upright 
equals and balances the horizontal arm. 

"The four arms of the X or decussated cross, 
and of the Hermetic cross, pointing to the four 
cardinal points * * * were well understood by the 
mystical minds of the Hindus, Brahmans and 
Buddhists, hundreds of years before it was heard 
of in Europe, for that symbol was and is found 
all over the world. They bent the ends of the 
cross and made of it their Swastika JHHi, now 
the Wand of the Mongolian Buddhist. * * * The 
T and the astronomical cross of Egypt, ®, 
are conspicuous in several apertures of the re- 
mains of Palenque [State of Chiapas, Mexico, 
where the ruins extend over 25 acres]. In one 
of the baso relievos of the Palace of Palenque, 
on the West Side, sculptured as a hieroglyphic 
right under the seated figure, is a Tau. * * * The 
position is precisely that of a Christian bishop 
giving his blessing, or the one in which Jesus is 
often represented while at the Last Supper. * * * 
The claim that the cross is a' purely Christian 
symbol introduced after our era, is strange indeed, 
when we find Ezekiel stamping the foreheads 
of the men of Judah who feared the Lord, 
with the signum Thau, as it is translated in the 
Vulgate." 8 

* S. D., II, 586-8. 



140 The Key to the Universe 

There are several forms of the cross, each having a 
special significance, but all contained in and repre- 
senting number 4. The form of the cross best known 
to the Western world is the Latin or Christian cross, 
the cross of suffering t, but ere this can become the 
balanced cross -f-> the Greek cross or the Cross of 
Mastery — the sign that the Initiation is over and 
Mastery won — its lower aspect must be purified from 
misconceptions and lifted up into a perfect balance 
with its higher aspects. 

While in 2 the Divine 1 is met by matter and is 
crucified upon the cross thus formed, in 4 matter or 
the physical plane has yielded up its experiences, and 
upon them as a solid foundation man (5) stands and 
reaches up into the higher realms. The expression 

of the □ in matter is the cube \ \ I I , but the cube 



1 



r 

unfolded forms the cross of crucifixion, thus 



The meaning of this symbology is that the cube rep- 
resents undeveloped man, the mere human personality 
who emanated from the 1 and contains within him 
the potentialities of that Divine 1. But to manifest 
these potentialities The Christ must be born in his 
heart, or the spiritual consciousness must be awak- 
ened and unfold the cross upon which the lower man 
must hang until spiritualized and redeemed in number 
7. This is demonstrated mathematically by the fact 
that 4 is the arithmetical mean between 1 and 7, and 
4 unfolded becomes the 7, both the 4 and the 7 con- 
taining the 10. 

Since the physical plane is imperfect and there is 
always something to be sacrificed and redeemed, the 
cube is called the Stone of Sacrifice, the Altar upon 



The Number 4 141 

which the lower personality is sacrificed until the pairs 
of opposites are balanced by the descent of the Divine 
Fire which consumes their sacrifice. Therefore if we 
sacrifice knowingly and willingly, the redemption is 
accomplished without the suffering which the crucifix- 
ion brings about for those who resist and refuse to 
work with the Law. By thus working with the Law, 
(the Law of Jesus, the Law of Redemption through 
Sacrifice), the cross is rolled up into the cube and the 
Stone of Sacrifice becomes the pure White Stone given 
"to him that overcometh" ; the Foundation Stone to a 
newer and higher manifestation ; that upon which all 
must be founded; the Stone which the builders re- 
jected, but which is destined to become chief Stone of 
the corner; 4 the Rock of Ages cleft during its mani- 
festation through man and woman, but reunited when 
they are united in the Divine. 

"Living the higher life and laying the Foundation 
Stone must be a Soul choice, a response to the urge 
of the Divine within you ; not as a matter of policy, 
because your friends so choose or because you thereby 
hope to free yourself from hampering and inharmoni- 
ous conditions, but a response to the urge of the Soul 
for union with the Divine; because the Soul speaks. 
It is the stone upon which you must build your life, 
both the inner and the outer; for if one of the corners 
is lacking or imperfectly laid, the superstructure — 
your life in all the worlds — must totter and fall in 
ruins about you (to be laboriously rebuilt later on). 
It is that quality of stability upon which may be 
focused all that the Great Law shall bring into mani- 
festation. This stability must be established upon the 
physical plane and remain unshaken through all the 
cataclysms of life ere the Temple of the Heavenly 
Man, your Divine Self, can be erected upon it. Noth- 
ing can endure that is not founded on this rock." 5 

* See St. Matthew, xxi, 44, and I Peter, ii, 6. 
5 See lesson The Mental Foundation. 






142 The Key to the Universe 

After the Foundation Stone has been laid in the 
physical world it must also be laid in the mental 
world, as described under number 14 in Volume II of 
this work. 

Regarding the circle as the limits of the cycle of 
manifestation, the square circumscribed about the 
circle represents the New Jerusalem of the higher 
realms which becomes reflected in the square in- 
scribed within the circle, or the plane of its physical 

manifestation. 

4 is the symbol of the New Jerusalem which cometh 
down from heaven 4 square, 1st in the hearts and lives 
of the followers of The Christ and later for humanity 
and the world. It descends as the result of the pairs 
of opposites, which rule the physical plane, being 
transmuted, balanced and squared. In other words 4 
is all that is mundane and opposed to the Divine, made 
square with it or permeated and filled with the Divine ; 
earth's lessons learned and the fullness of experience 
garnered. The New Jerusalem is described as "com- 
ing down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride 
adorned for her husband." A bride is not only ar- 
rayed in gorgeous apparel, but she is also prepared to 
leave her old life in her father's house and through this 
sacrifice blend her life with that of her husband to 
make a foundation upon which their 1 united life can 
be built. 

4 is used in many ways in the Bible and in all other 
sacred scriptures, as well as in occult literature. The 
Holy City must be laid 4 square, the mystical "white 
stone" is square, and there are the 4 cardinal points, 
North, South, East, and West, presided over by the 
4 great Angels or Regents, symbolized by the 4 sacred 



The Number 4 143 

animals of Esekiel, Daniel and the Apocalypse, namely, 
the Bull, the Lion, the Eagle and the Man. 6 In the 
Orient these Regents are called the 4 Great Kings or 
Maharajas and are related to the 4 Lords of Karma 
or the 4 great Powers which make square, balance and 
adjust the workings of the Great Law that love, jus- 
tice, equilibrium and harmony may ultimately prevail. 
They are connected with Karma because the Law 
needs physical and material agents to carry out and 
execute its decrees ; the 4 kinds of winds, for instance, 
admitted to have their respective evil and beneficent 
influences upon the health of mankind and every living 
thing. 

" "They are the Regents, or Angels who rule 
over the Cosmical Forces of North, South, East 
and West, Forces having each a distinct Occult 
property. There is Occult philosophy in the 
Roman Catholic doctrine which traces the various 
public calamities, such as epidemics of disease and 
wars, and so on, to the invisible 'Messengers' from 
the North and West. 'The glory of God comes 
from the way of the East', says Ezekiel; while 
Jeremiah, Isaiah, and the Psalmist assure their 
readers that all the evil under the Sun comes 
from the North and West." 7 

This, however, must be understood in its esoteric 
interpretation, each point of the compass having its 
own occult significance and potencies. According to 
the Book of Enoch: "I then surveyed the receptacle of 
all the winds, perceiving that they contributed to 
adorn the whole creation, and preserve the foundation 
of the earth. * * * The first wind is called east- 
ern, because it is the first. The second is called the 
south, because the Most High there descends, and 
frequently there descends he who is blessed forever. 
The western wind has the name of diminution, because 
there all the luminaries of heaven are diminished, and 

6 These zodiacal signs — Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius — are no 
longer the cardinal signs, because through the precession of the 
equinoxes they have retrograded 1 sign, making the signs which pre- 
cede each, i. e., Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn the cardinal signs 
for the present age. 

T S. D., I, 147-8. 



144 The Key to the Universe 

descend. The fourth wind, which is named north, 
is divided into three parts : one of which is for the 
habitation of man ; another for seas of water, with 
valleys, woods, rivers, shady places, and snow; and 
the third part contains paradise." 8 

"Who are those whom I have seen on the four 
sides * * * ? The first is the merciful, the patient, 
the holy Michael. The second is he who presides over 
every suffering and every affliction of the sons of men, 
the holy Raphael. The third, who presides over all 
that is powerful, is Gabriel. And the fourth, who will 
inherit eternal life, is Phannel. These are the four 
angels of the most high God, and their four voices 
which I heard. * * * I also beheld the four winds 
which bear up the earth, and the firmament of 
heaven." 9 

'"The powers and forces thus symbolized are not mere 
abstractions, but arethe intelligent, entitized forces so 
often referred to in the writings of the Christian 
Fathers as the "Messengers," "Angelic Virtues," 
"Spirits" or "Angels." Thus do the Regents of the 
4 Winds, with their hosts or armies of living powers, 
bring to the earth and to mankind their particular 
forces, without which evolution could not be completed. 
From this we learn the great lesson of unity in diver- 
sity: that each Soul must work in its own way, just as 
the winds accomplish their own work even though 
apparently adverse." 10 

"The 4 beasts also symbolize the 4 corners of the 
earth and the 4 Winds of Heaven. The wind, like the 
breath of the physical body, is a manifestation of the 
Spirit, which comes from we know not whence and 
goeth we know not whither. It is said that from the 
North and West come all diseases and all afflictions, 
while from the East and South come all benefits. The 
winds, like the breath of the physical body, are but 

8 Book of Enoch, xviii, 1, — lxxvi. 

' Ibid, chap, xl-xviii. 

10 See lesson on The Four Winds. 



The Number 4 145 

vehicles of spiritual powers operating on earth, through 
which the Lords of Karma bring about Their decrees, 
even that which seems to be evil ultimately resulting 
for the benefit of the world and its inhabitants. Just 
as the signs of the zodiac have their Rulers, so do 
the 4 quarters of the earth. The powers which operate 
in the creations of earth are focused in these 4 car- 
dinal points, or rather their Rulers manipulate certain 
creative forces, both in the evolution of the globe and 
in the individual. These forces being both cause and 
effect are the Law of Karma. In the spiritual life 
these beasts, or Lords, symbolize the power to Know, 
the power to Dare, the power to Do and the power 
to Keep Silent. Without these four powers the Soul 
cannot reach mastery." ir 

filiphas Levi, in referring to these same spiritual 
powers, taught that there were 4 qualities of Soul 
without which true wisdom could not be attained, 
namely, "an Intelligence illuminated by study (to 
Know), an Intrepidity which nothing can check (to 
Dare), a Will that nothing can break (to Do), and last 
but most important of all, a Discretion (Keep Silent), 
which nothing can corrupt." 12 

The ancient philosophers have been much derided 
in modern times for teaching that the earth was square. 
But in speaking of "the four corners of the earth" the 
original teaching was not that the earth was literally 
square, although later on this became the belief of 
the uneducated masses. The ancients used this sym- 
bolic expression to indicate the balancing and squaring 
of earth conditions which is brought about by the 4 
Regents of the 4 Winds. For only as earthly condi- 
tions are squared can this earth become the cube or 
"the footstool of God." 

The 4 winds are said to usher in the 4 seasons, 
namely, the East Wind brings Spring, the South Wind 

11 See lesson on The Great White Throne, for a description of 
the 4 Beasts. 

12 Transcendental Magic, Levi. 



146 The Key to the Universe 

Summer, the West Wind Fall and the North Wind the 
Winter, which completes the cycle of the year. There 
are also 4 phases or quarters to the cycle of the moon : 
the new moon, 1st quarter, full moon and last quarter. 
Hence these are 2 more instances in which 4 equals 
the complete cycle 10. 

The 4 winds are connected with the Lords of Karma 
because it is these winds, or the forces which they 
embody, which are continually bringing about the 
changes and adjustments upon the physical plane 
which permit the sacrifice, i. e., through the sunshine 
and "winds" of spring and summer the matter of the 
earth sacrifices its gross form and is lifted up into 
flower, fruit and grain, there to be more perfectly 
impregnated with the life-force of the sun and the 
higher kingdoms, while by the "winds" of autumn 
and winter old forms and limitations are sacrificed and 
broken up that new and higher forms may manifest in 
the next cycle. Likewise the Soul in passing through 
the changing winds of Karma gathers up the spiritual 
forces and the experiences from them which place its 
feet (understanding) upon the square Foundation 
Stone of Truth. Truth is said to be square because 
only that which can be proved on all planes can 
endure, *. e., only as the length, breadth and height 
of it can be measured by unity, the rod of power or 10. 

In the New Testament the powers of the 4 Beasts 
and the 4 Winds are represented by the 4 Apostles 
and the 4 Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 
These are also the 4 Saints, Angels or Regents of the 
earth, the 4 Lords of Karma who adjust the conditions 
symbolized by the negative or evil aspects of the 4 
Beasts. St. Matthew, "the Man from the East" (Aqua- 
rius, the power to Know), is the adjuster of all con- 
ditions brought about by man's ignorance. He is called 
the Publican or Tax-gatherer, the Angel who levies 



The Number 4 147 

upon mankind tribute to knowledge, the knowledge 
which shall support the rule of the Divine King. 
St. Mark is the Lion (Leo), the power to Dare. By 
Bible students he is called "the Interpreter of Peter," 
the Rock. He adjusts the conditions in humanity 
which arise from the lack, perversion or fickleness of 
love, which should be the Foundation Stone of the 
spiritual life, the Rock of Intuition. St. Luke, the Bull 
(Taurus) is called the Physician. As the Bull sym- 
bolizes the masses of mankind who toil and labor, St. 
Luke adjusts the conditions brought about by the im- 
proper use or enslavement of labor. This he accom- 
plishes or heals through the power of attainment 
through patient perseverance, the power to Do. St. 
John, the Eagle (Scorpio, the power to Keep Silent), 
is called "the Beloved Disciple." He adjusts the ills 
resulting from the stinging power of the scorpion 
(sexual desire) by lifting it up above the earth to soar 
in the higher realms. In other words, when the stings 
of the scorpion are healed, or the lessons resulting 
from the perversion of sex are learned, the Creative 
Force which it symbolizes rises upward "on eagle's 
wings" toward the sun and becomes Divine Love, the 
beloved of The Christ. 



CHAPTER 16 

the number 4 — (Continued). 

"He who aspires to be a sage and to know 
the great enigma of nature must be the heir and 
despoiler of the sphinx ; his the human head 
in order to possess speech ; his the eagle's wings 
in order to scale the heights; his the bull's 
flanks in order to furrow the depths; his the 
lion's talons to make a way on the right and 
the left, before and behind." 

— Transcendental Magic, Levi, 31. 

The Pythagoreans called number 4 "the great mir- 
acle ; a God after another manner, a manifold ; the 
foundation of nature ; the Key-Bearer or Key- Keeper 
of Nature ; the Door of the East," etc. As it was held 
by them to be the Foundation of Truth 4 was the 
number upon which they took their oaths. This was 
to them the same as swearing upon the Foundation 
Stone of the Truth. 

Many ancient and modern languages have a name 
for the Deity composed of 4 letters, thus the Assyrian 
Adad; Egyptian Amun, Teut or Taut; Persian Syre 
or Sire; Turkish Esar; Tartar Itga; Arabian Allh (or 
Allah); Samaritan Jabe; Greek Theo; Latin Deus; 
French Dieu; German Gott, etc. In all these cases the 
4 letters indicate God manifesting in His Works, while 
the addition of another letter to the name, such as 
changing Allh to Allah, Taut to Thoth, Jesu to Jesus, 
etc., signifies a personal and human incarnation or em- 
bodiment of that God, number 5 being the number of 
human manifestation. 

An ancient legend relates that when God created 
the 4 Cardinal Points, He left the North unfinished, 



The Number 4 — (Continued) 149 

saying: "If any be equal let him finish it." The esoteric 
truth back of this allegory is that the North, through 
the Pole Star, leads into a new and higher octave of 
world systems, hence cannot be "finished" until all 
that manifests on this planet has evolved to the point 
where it can enter the new system. 

filiphas Levi connects the 4 symbolic Beasts with 
the 4 magic elements and elementary spirits as fol- 
lows : "The magical elements are : in alchemy, salt, 
sulfur, mercury and azoth ; in Kabbalah, the macro- 
prosopus, and the two mothers ; in hieroglyphics, the 
man, eagle, lion and bull ; in old physics, according to 
vulgar names and notions, air, water, earth and fire. 
But in magical science we know that water is not 
ordinary water, fire not simply fire, etc. These expres- 
sions conceal a more recondite meaning. Modern 
science has decomposed the four elements of the 
ancients, and reduced them to a number of so-called 
simple bodies. That which is simple, however, is the 
primitive substance properly so-called; there is there- 
fore only one material element, which always manifests 
by the tetrad in its forms. We shall therefore pre- 
serve the wise distinctions of elementary appearances 
admitted by the ancients, and shall recognize air, fire, 
earth and water as the four positive and visible ele- 
ments 1 of magic." 2 

In Genesis 3 we find 4 mystical rivers represented as 
watering the Garden of Eden, Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel 
and Euphrates. Taking Eden as a symbolic reference 
to the body of man, these 4 rivers correspond to the 
4 great arteries proceeding from the heart which carry 
the purified blood to the 4 regions of the body indi- 
cated. The 1st river Pison — whose meaning is "joined 
together as one" — which "compasseth the whole land 
of Havilah," refers to the innominate artery which is 
formed by the right subclavian and the right common 

1 For the mystic meaning of the elements see our lessons, The 
Elements, also Rivers of Life and Death. 
1 Transcendental Magic, 58-9. 
» ii, 10-14. 



150 The Key to the Universe 

carotid arteries "joined as one." The meaning of the 
word Havilah is "to bring forth; to form, create; to 
supply strength," all of which vividly portrays the 
offices of the brain and right arm and head which are 
supplied by this river of blood. The river Gihon — 
signifying "to run out ; to burst forth into thought" — 
refers to the left common carotid artery which supplies 
the left side of the brain and head. The 3rd river, 
Hiddekel — meaning "freely flowing" — refers to the 
left subclavian artery which supplies the left arm, The 
4th river, Euphrates — meaning to "increase ; the creat- 
ive power; the fruitful river," etc.- — symbolizes the 
descending aorta, the great river of blood that supplies 
the lungs and the entire body below the diaphragm, 
including the creative centers. Thus the 4 rivers 
"water" the whole land of Eden. 4 Among the Greeks 
there were also 4 symbolic rivers, but these were repre- 
sented as being in the nether world or the plane of 
physical embodiment, namely, the Phlegethon, Cocytus, 
Styx and Acheron, whose symbology we have 
described elsewhere. 5 

The number 4 also appears in the 4 "hours" of the 
day and the watches of the night; in the 4 Cherubim; 
in the 4 wheels of Ezekiel; in the 4 ages of man, 
infancy, youth, maturity, old age ; in the 4 horses of 
Neptune and in divers other places too numerous to 
mention, but always carrying out the basic meaning of 
a physical foundation. 6 

In many places in the Bible we read that if anything 
is taken unjustly it must be repaid 4 fold. This is not 
to be taken literally, for it simply symbolizes that 
the injustice must be squared or that the 4 Lords of 
Karma must each be satisfied, or the adjustment made 
on the 4 planes — the earth, the psychic, the mental and 

1 See our lesson The Sixth Angel. 

5 In our lesson Rivers of Life and Death. 

* For those interested in the problem of squaring the circle through 
the use of the ratio of 6561 for the diameter, to 20612 for the circum- 
ference, discovered by John A. Parker of New York, and proved to be 
the ratio upon which the pyramids were built, etc., see S. D., I, 332, 
also The Mystic Thesaurus, Whitehead, 50. 



The Number 4 — (Continued) 151 

the spiritual — by the synthesizing power of the Spirit. 
This is the key to the workings of the Law of Karma. 

The Children of Israel are represented as wandering 
40 years in the wilderness. A wilderness is not a 
desert, for it may embrace beautiful mountains, for- 
ests and streams. It is simply a region that has been 
left to nature and is uncultivated. If we regard the 
story of the wanderings of Israel as historically true 
there are many facts hard to reconcile. The Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica says : "As regards the Mountain of 
the Law in particular, if the record of Exodus 19 is 
strictly historical, we must seek a locality where 600,- 
000 fighting men, or some two million souls in all, 
could encamp and remain for some time, finding 
pasture and drink for their cattle, and where there 
was a mountain (with a wilderness at its foot) rising 
so sharply that its base could be fenced in, while yet 
it was easily ascended, and its summit could be seen 
by a great multitude below. Where, then, was this 
mountain ?" 7 It is therefore plain that the whole story 
is an allegory. The Wilderness is the natural or unre- 
generate world. The Children of Israel are those of 
God's people who are led out of the darkness of 
ignorance and the slavery of the senses by an inspired 
prophet or lawgiver, and who are following the Great 
Law through the Wilderness into the Promised Land. 
All the adventures described will be found to express 
experiences in the unfolding spiritual life. 

The 40 years are composed of 4 complete cycles of 
10, in this allegory called "years," but called "days" 
when referring to the 4 periods of fasting which Jesus 
is .represented as passing in the Wilderness. Those 
who are seeking the Promised Land and to climb the 
Holy Mount must wander during these 4 cycles until 
they learn 4 fundamental lessons concerning the Law 
of Divine Love. In the 1st, they must learn that all 

7 Article on Sinai. 



152 The Key to the Universe 

their unhappy experiences, be they sickness, poverty or 
inharmony, are not punishments inflicted by some arbi- 
trary God or Being, but are the results of their own 
disobedience to the Law either in the present or past 
lives. In the 2nd, they must learn that the Law of 
Love can so order their physical bodies that in their 
flesh they shall see God; that all sickness is the ulti- 
mate result of rebellion against the Law, both person- 
ally and through the race-thought. In the 3rd, they 
must know something of the interpenetration of the 
various planes of existence, how to protect themselves 
from undesirable influences from the astral plane, and 
also realize their duty to themselves, their fellow men, 
the lower kingdoms and elemental forces — in fact, to 
all things over which man was given dominion. In 
the 4th period they must pass a cycle of testing and 
proving, during which all they have learned in the 3 
periods is put to the test and proved. 

When this same symbol is used in connection with 
the 40 days of fasting in the Wilderness it deals with 
a different phase. Here we find the Christ-man, who 
has dedicated his life to the uplift of humanity, driven 
by the Spirit into the Wilderness. Thus are advanced 
Souls driven into the wilderness of the outer life by 
the Spirit, through their love of humanity and their 
desire to help. Once having incarnated in this Wilder- 
ness, to a certain extent they forget their high mission 
and find themselves fasting and alone, seemingly for- 
saken. They must fast until they learn that even 
though they have the power to turn the stones into 
bread, still they do not live by bread alone "but by 
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." 
For the dense physical stage of human evolution sym- 
bolized by the stones cannot nourish the Christ-man 
until instead of being a stone it has become the Word 
made flesh. 



The Number 4 — (Continued) 153 

Thus they pass 4 cycles of fasting, 1st trying to feed 
their spiritual hunger with the joys of the material 
world, but finding that the mere possession of things 
can never satisfy the Soul-hunger. Then they enter 
upon a new day in which they realize the greatness 
of mind and perhaps are swept away to the extreme 
of declaring that "mind is all and all is mind." They 
now seek in the intellectual conceptions of the mental 
realm 1 , in subtle philosophies and metaphysical specu- 
lations to appease the hunger of their Souls. But 
sooner or later their Souls find that they are still feed- 
ing on the husks and still fasting from that true spir- 
itual food which alone can satisfy. Then they seek 
satisfaction in the psychic phenomena which their intel- 
lectual search has brought to their attention. At 1st 
perhaps their hunger is appeased by the phenomena of 
seances, in messages and platitudes from their departed 
friends, in anything that will lift their consciousness 
above the material and mechanistic concept of life. 
Later this proves to be but a mental diversion, altho 
it is a training which enables them to appreciate the 
real spiritual Bread of Life which must come from The 
Christ within and not from without, not even from the 
disembodied. Thus they pass the 4th day or cycle in 
proving that none of these things bring Soul satisfac- 
tion. By this time they are "an hungered," and only 
then do the angels (messengers of God, not disem- 
bodied mortals) come and minister unto them. 

Many sincere students are to be found in each of 
these cycles. But if they are all earnestly seeking 
spiritual food they are not to be condemned or even 
looked down upon by those who have taken a step 
higher. Perhaps no 1, except the Soul who has reached 
the 4th day, will pass through all phases of fasting in 
1 life, but every Soul will pass through either longer 
or shorter expressions of these periods. The day- 



154 The Key to the Universe 

periods are those in which enthusiasm fills the Soul and 
the things it feeds on seem all-satisfying for the time 
being ; the night-periods are those in which the former 
food no longer satisfies and the Soul is truly hungry 
and unsatisfied. 

There are 4 natural classes of humanity, corres- 
ponding to the 4 main divisions of the Grand Man, in 
1 of which all mankind finds expression. These great 
divisions or castes are not arbitrary classifications, but 
are expressions of the 4 characteristic forms of human 
activity. Among the Hindus the Grand Man is called 
Brahma and the 4 classes are said to have sprung 
from his body as follows: from, his head sprang the 
natural teachers, philosophers, scientists and priests 
(Brahmans) ; from his arms sprang the natural war- 
riors, soldiers, rulers and executives (Kshatriyas) ; 
from his body sprang the natural husbandmen, per- 
veyors and merchants (Vaishyas), and from his feet 
those whose attainments fit them only for mechanical 
and manual labor (Sudras). While this is a natural 
classification of human activities and social life, which 
is as easily discernible in the Western world as in 
the Eastern, in the East it has been greatly over empha- 
sized, greatly abused and degraded by hard and fast 
lines of cleavage which in their practical workings do 
not permit the entering of a higher caste from a lower 
through demonstrated ability and merit, altho such 
opportunities were always open in the earlier ages, and 
still are theoretically in India today. 

It is unphilosophical to talk about the equality of all 
men, if the term is used in the usual sense of uni- 
formity; for there is no such thing as equality or 
uniformity in the manifested universe. Every single 
expression of life is an expression of an individuality 
that is different from every other expression. Only 
in the realms of the undifferentiated is there uniform- 



The Number 4 — (Continued) 155 

ity. As soon as differentiation begins uniformity is 
destroyed and individuality reigns. It is true that in 
their Divine Essence and as equally precious expres- 
sions of the 1 Life, also in their divine possibilities, all 
men are equal and hence should have equal opportuni- 
ties to express their Divine Essence and achieve their 
possibilities. But they are not equal in the degree 
of their expression of their divinity, nor in the degree 
of their attainments. The Law is "Unity in diversity," 
but never uniformity. 

There are 4 chief stages in the civilization of man. 
The most primitive form is the Nomadic. In this stage 
man wanders from place to place in search of food 
and without any settled place of abode. His food is 
only that which nature produces without any effort on 
his part, and which she offers him for the taking, i. e., 
fruits, nuts, game, etc. This is the stage of irresponsi- 
bility. Each day satisfies its own needs, hence no 
thought is taken or provision made for the futurs. The 
welfare of the self reigns supreme. In this rudimen- 
tary stage of intellectual and spiritual unfoldment 
man's highest conception of the Divine is as a mighty 
and ever-successful Hunter. 

The 2nd stage is the Pastoral. In this stage man 
has grasped the idea that he can secure his food more 
easily by taming animals and raising them in flocks 
and herds than by having to hunt an individual animal 
every time he needs food. While he is still more or 
less of a wanderer, changing his abode with the needs 
of his flocks and herds, yet he is more settled than in 
the Nomadic stage ; for his wanderings are only within 
a limited area. Altho little provision is made for the 
future, except to prepare for and take advantage of 
the seasons, still responsibility, forethought and the 
beginnings of unselfishness are being developed. In 



156 The Key to the Universe 

this stage man's highest ideal of the Divine is as a 
tender and loving Shepherd. 

As the pastoral wanderings or migrations become 
more restricted man establishes a corral for his herds, 
founds a more permanent home and begins to culti- 
vate the soil. Thus he passes into the Agricultural 
stage, founds a permanent home, accumulates posses- 
sions not easily kept under tents or transported in 
caravans, and begins to cultivate the arts. In this stage 
responsibility must be assumed, forethought taken and 
preparation made for the next year's crops. Also 
since provision must be made for his family and domes- 
tic animals during the winter season, man is forced 
to develop more unselfishness by providing for others. 
In this stage his ideal of the Divine is that of an Hus- 
bandman or loving head of the household or Father, 
and his idea of heaven is a mansion in the skies, a 
home in a blissful realm of perpetual summer, with 
singing, dancing, etc. 

Overgrowth of population in a fixed position neces- 
sitates a division of labor, hence there next ensues the 
industrial period which evolves into the Scientific 
stage. Man now realizes that no individual can live 
his life to himself alone or without considering and 
affecting others. He therefore begins to develop co- 
operative efforts for the best good to all, altho still 
giving full scope for the expression of individuality 
within the unity of the whole. As such co-operation 
requires greater individual responsibility and still 
greater unselfishness on the part of the individual, in 
this stage unselfishness reaches its highest expression. 
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay 
down his life for his friends." 8 In this stage man's 
highly developed intellect and spiritual unfoldment 
shows him that the physical world is but an imperfect 
materialization of that which is immaterial, hence his 

• St. John, xv, 13. 



The Number 4 — (Continued) 157 

ideal of the Divine is as an all-pervading and life- 
giving Spirit whose Urge to Manifest the Ideal is the 
cause of all manifestation and all evolution, that the 
manifestation and the ideal may become 1 or complete 
its cycle by returning to its Source. 

Let number 4 remind you always to be honest and 
"square," with your fellow men, with yourself 
and with God. Determine that you will give others 
and yourself a "square deal" ; that you will face and 
"square up" all mistakes, faults and failings, and thus 
lay your Foundation Stone that your future life may 
be founded on the Rock of Truth and be stable ; that 
even though you find this world but a wilderness, and 
so-called religious teachings but stones, and the voice 
of the tempter ever in your ear, nevertheless, being 
firmly established upon your Foundation Stone of 
Truth, you know that you have within you the power 
of The Christ to conquer and make square all con- 
ditions. 



CHAPTER 17 

the 4th letter, Daleth ( 1 ) 

"He produced Daleth, and referred it to Fer- 
tility; He crowned it, combined and formed with 
it the Sun in the Universe, the third day of 
the week, and the right nostril of man." 

— Sepher Yetzirah, 22. 

The 4th letter is Daleth (D), the 3rd of the 7 double 
letters. It is combined with the sun and referred to 
fertility. The sun has a double aspect in that while 
in its positive aspect it is the fructifying power which 
stimulates fertility, in its negative aspect it scorches, 
kills, produces putrifaction and causes the opposite 
of fertility or sterility. 

Daleth is called the "womb," for it is the feminine 
1st Cause, just as Aleph or number 1 was the mascu- 
line 1st Cause. In Aleph the Divine is incorporated 
in man as Adam; in Beth it finds its home or rest in 
the feminine Principle, Eve ; and in Gimel we have the 
son or offspring. In another sense Aleph represents 
man, Beth the home of his Soul and Daleth the off- 
spring. Hence in the 4th letter we return again to 
the 1st creation, for 4= 10= l. 1 Therefore Daleth 
is both the womb and a door which was opened only 
after the 1st creation, for during the 1st, 2nd and up 
to the middle of the 3rd Race the sexes were not 
separated. Conditions of physical life were so hard 
and strenuous that it was only the positive, forceful, 
masculine aspect of humanity that could fight its way 
into manifestation and maintain itself. By the time 

1 Seepage 136, Table 2. 



The 4th Letter, Daleth 159 

the 4th Race was reached conditions had so evolved 
and modified that woman was able to maintain herself 
as a separate being and become the foundation (womb) 
for the succeeding- Races. 2 The Greek form of Daleth 
is Delta A, a triangle resembling a tent door. 

* For the details of this change see V. of I., chapters xv and xvii. 



THE 4th TAROT CARD 

THE EMPEROR 





MEDIEVAL 




EZ 



teS$ 




THE EMPEROR 



EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



The 4th Tarot Card, The Emperor 161 

the 4th tarot card, The Emperor. • 

The 4th Tarot Card is called "The Emperor." It 
agrees with the letter Daleth, which as we have seen 
is both the womb of nature or the rejuvenated earth 
fructified by the sun that it may bring forth, and is 
also the offspring or that which is brought forth. This 
4th card expresses the same symbology in that here 
we find the active aspect of all that the 3rd card 
expressed in passivity. 

Here we see a man seated upon a cubic stone, on 
1 side of which is carved an eagle with outstretched 
wings. The stone is the square Foundation Stone 
which must be established both in the individual and 
humanity ere the Emperor can take his seat and rule 
his domain. The fact that he is seated indicates that 
he is established, at rest and ruling in the midst of the 
4 winds, the position of his legs forming the figure 4 
or the completion of the foundation, the establishment 
of man on the earth plane. The eagle is the power of 
sex uplifted or Scorpio transformed. The eagle as 
a symbol of 1 of the 4 cardinal signs indicates freedom 
and aspiration, the true freedom which has risen out 
of the limitations of sex and drawn its creative force 
from the sun. That it is engraved on the cubic stone 
indicates that only where man and nature are squared 
can the Spiritual Sun become the creator; only when 
the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven 4 square 
will we find no night there, for the Law of thy Good 
shall be the light thereof. 

The Scepter bearing the sign of Venus 9 , which 
the Emperor holds in his right hand, symbolizes his 
ability to rule both the force within himself and within 
his empire (the world) through the Venus-power of 
Love. Being held in his right hand shows that it is 
the active, vivifying principle that is being used. In 



162 The Key to the Universe 

his left hand he holds a globe surmounted by a bal- 
anced cross, symbolizing that it is through the power 
of the balanced cross that he rules. Also, being held 
in his left hand shows that only through the feminine 
power of Love can he balance Spirit and matter and 
gain the power to rule the globe. The Emperor is 
bearded, and upon his head is a helmet containing 12 
points. This is man's Crown of Life, subject how- 
ever at this 4th step to the forces operating through 
the 12 signs of the zodiac. 

THE 4TH COMMANDMENT. 

"And on the seventh day God ended his work 
which he had made; and he rested on the sev- 
enth day from all his work which he had* made. 
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified 
it: because that in it he had rested from all his 
work which God created and made." 

— Genesis, ii, 2-3. 

Since the study of numbers reveals the fact that 4 
is the Number of the Physical Plane; of Stability; of 
the Foundation Stone upon which our spiritual struc- 
ture must be reared, we are not surprised to find the 
4th Commandment dealing with the 7th day, whose 
ruling planet, Saturn, is the planet which expresses 
the characteristics of number 4. 

"Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. 
Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; 
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD 
thy God." 

— Exodus, xx, 8. 

We might well expect the 4th Commandment to 
apply solely to man's physical well-being. Yet while 
its literal interpretation is valuable as an hygienic 
measure, its meaning cannot be relegated entirely to 
the physical plane, for it has correspondences on all 



The 4th Commandment 163 

planes. The 7th or Sabbath day, the day of rest after 
the 6 days of labor, should not be confused with the 
1st day of the week's activities, Sunday, the Lord's 
Day. It is a misunderstanding of terms and a desire 
to exalt the day appointed for worship in the new dis- 
pensation that has led the Christians to combine the 
day of rest with the 1st day, their day of worship, 
while the Jews adhered to the 7th day. 

The term Sabbath is derived from the Hebrew word 
for rest, Shabbath, a day that was observed in com- 
memoration of the day on which God rested after the 
6 days of creation, i. e., the 7th day. In the Gospels 
the term Sabbath always indicates the 7th or day of 
rest, the Lord's day remaining quite distinct until the 
3rd century. The dictionary tells us that: "In the 
middle ages Sabbath always meant Saturday. Accord- 
ing to the elder Disraeli, it was first used in England 
for Sunday in 1554." And since we know that the 
6 days of creation are symbols for 6 vast evolutionary 
periods, so must we look for a symbolic meaning for 
the 6 days of labor. 

Each day of the week has its characteristic powers, 
forces and significances which should be observed. 
These are quite as distinct as the forces manifesting 
during the various seasons, and vary according to the 
characteristics of the Planetary Deity ruling the day. 
In the 4th Commandment we are dealing with the day 
of rest after the 6 days of activity, Saturday or Sat- 
urn's day. In 1 aspect Saturn is the same as Cronus 
or Time, and is represented by a <3> or a serpent 
swallowing its tail. Saturn is also the Ruler who rep- 
resents stability, repose, rest, and also form. If we 
remember that Saturn is spoken of as "Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the 
last," we will see at once that the 1st and 7th days 
represent the 2 extremes of the same force, or the 



164 The Key to the Universe 

head and tail of the serpent, which must meet to 
close the cycle or circle. Time ultimately brings about 
a literal, altho often perverted, manifestation of every 
symbol and esoteric truth. And as we draw toward 
the close of this present cycle we find in the Western 
world the meaning of the 7th day literally swallowed 
up in that of the 1st. But both are necessary if we 
would progress. The serpent needs a tail as well as 
a head if we are to lift it up into a Rod of Power. If 
the head is allowed to swallow the tail it indicates 
lack of progress, for it forms a closed circuit around 
and around which we will circle perpetually. But if 
both head and tail have their proper places we can 
lift up the serpent's head and form a spiral, along 
which we can enter a higher plane and a new day of 
experience and expression. 

The Sun's day or the Lord's day is the day in which 
the Lord or Law sends forth the Divine Light of the 
1 God into manifestation. This must be preceded by 
Saturn's day, both because the O must precede the 1, 
and because the quality of poise, rest and stability 
must have manifested in the O ere the Creative Dot 
could appear and attract around itself the materials 
from which the 1 was to manifest and evolve the uni- 
verse. Being the Sun's day, the 1st day of the week 
should be sacred to letting the Light shine; to active 
effort to correlate or establish our oneness with the 
Divine Ray of the 1 God which has shed its Light 
into the darkness of our life's orbit or O- We 
should be as active, positive and potent in this as was 
the Dot in manifesting the 1. In other words, the 
1st day of the week should not be a day of rest like 
the 7th, but should be filled with such spiritual and 
other activities as shall help the Light of the 1 God 
within us to shine forth ; as shall aid the more perfect 



The 4th C omMtandment 165 

manifestation of the Law of our Good. This is our 
1st duty in beginning the 6 days of labor. 

Saturn is described as the 1st Planetary Deity to 
go forth from the bosom of the Infinite, that he might 
establish the boundaries of the O within which the 
universe was to manifest, and create the stability 
upon which the subsequent manifestation might rest 
and upon which the forces of the other Planetary 
Deities might focus to bring about the subsequent 
evolution. 3 Hence Saturn is called both the Initiator 
and the Tester who determines the degree of stability 
of our foundation before each advance is attempted. 
His force will necessarily be the last to return because 
the laws of stability must be maintained until the Dot 
has evolved through the gamut of all the numbers and 
has expanded to the limits of the O an d fulfilled 
its cycle of manifestation. The command to rest and 
acquire stability is therefore an imperative and funda- 
mental law of every form of manifestation, for it 
represents the completion of a certain phase or cycle 
of activity. Just as God rested on the 7th day and 
contemplated all that Pie had created and saw that it 
was very good, so must we in a corresponding way — 
for there is but the 1 Law back of all creation — have 
a period of rest, silence and meditation at the close of 
each cycle of activity. This rest must not be merely 
a change of occupation, but must be a period of cessa- 
tion from all outward activity; a holy calm, a sacred 
meditation, during which we contemplate all that we 
have created during our 6 days of activity. This period 
of rest and self-examination should be observed not 
only at the close of each week, but at the close of 
each day and at the close of each year. It should not 
be filled with sighs and regrets over our failures and 
shortcomings, but should be filled with a high resolve 
and an earnest determination to create more perfect 

» See V. of I., 332. 



166 The Key to the Universe 

manifestations during the ensuing period of activity. 
And this rest, meditation, recuperation and earnest 
determination will prepare us for the activities of the 
Lord's day, i. e., positive, spiritual creation. 

"In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor 
•thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor 
thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger 
that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord 
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in 
them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore 
the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it." 

On the Sabbath day not only should we rest from 
outer activity, gather up the experiences, ratify all 
that is good in them and build their force into Soul- 
growth, but we are commanded not to allow any of 
our creations to work. Our sons and daughters here 
symbolize the creations of our positive and negative 
aspects of thought. The manservant and maidservant 
symbolize the positive and negative acts or work of 
our hands which serve or accomplish for us. The cattle 
refer to the lower animal self with all its attendant 
animal desires. All these are good, useful, even 
necessary, and should be fed, cared for, trained and 
used in their proper field of activity for the general 
well-being of the household. But upon the 7th day or 
period of completion upon which the Soul enters, all 
these animal desires, as well as our sons, daughters 
and servants, must rest or cease their activities. 

"Thy stranger within thy gates" refers to all those 
outside influences which sway or influence us. They 
are the thought-forces and opinions of the community, 
for instance, which to a certain extent we must admit 
within the gates of our consciousness during the 6 
days of labor. If we are to be a positive influence for 
good in our community and be centers of love, peace 
and harmony in our environment we must pay a cer- 



The 4th Commandment 167 

tain amount of attention to the conventionalities, and 
entertain as guests or strangers, according to the rules 
of our household — our standards of life and conduct — 
the ideals and thought-forces which we must admit 
within our gates. In other words we must practice 
tolerance without subservience. The strangers within 
our gates do not receive the same treatment as the 
sons and daughters or the servants and cattle, nor are 
we responsible for them to the same extent; only for 
the way we entertain them. On this 7th or Saturn's 
day, therefore, we must see to it that all these activi- 
ties of our household shall cease. In other words, by 
the time we have reached our Sabbath, or the 7th great 
cycle of our manifestation, and in a lesser degree at 
the close of each 6 days of activity, we should have 
been able to so correlate with the force of Saturn that 
we have established a Place of Peace, of stability and 
rest, a firm foundation upon which to stand and meet 
Saturn in his aspect of the Tester; so that we can 
stand still, poised, undismayed and at rest while the 
creations of our 6 periods of activity are being scanned, 
weighed and judged. When we have attained this 
point in our development Saturn is no longer the grim 
Tester and Reaper, but is the Initiator who shall admit 
us into a higher world of consciousness. The 1st step 
is to follow the 4th Commandment and observe the 
Sabbath day and keep it wholly, in our outer as well 
as in our inner lives, and prepare for active worship 
on the Lord's day. 

Man has 5 physical senses and has 5 corresponding 
days in which to exercise, labor with, develop and 
'satisfy them and thus gather all their lessons for the 
Real Self. But there are 2 higher senses which man 
as yet has not developed, which correspond to the days 
which precede and succeed the 5 days of activity. Man 
can reach his Great Sabbath or period of perfect rest 



168 The Key to the Universe 

and stability only when he has developed these 2 
senses. But to develop them he must follow the rules 
laid down and arrange for definite periods of rest, 
relaxation, silence and meditation. 

All growth and development proceeds in rhythmic 
ebb and flow or cyclic periods of activity and inactivity, 
day and night, summer and winter, etc. Saturn's day 
is the period of rest at the turn of the tide. Like the 
boundaries of the O it sets limits to the periods of 
activity. It is like the arm of God reached out to 
force all things to observe periods of rest, as the 
night forces us to cease from physical labor, for with- 
out it all would soon become exhausted. The positive 
aspect of the life-force cannot be absorbed, whether 
from our food or in other ways, while the organism 
is tense in active work. All is then expression, giving 
out, it even being injurious to work directly after a 
hearty meal. Therefore, to renew our forces for 
another period of activity, a period of relaxation and 
rest is a vital necessity. At some time during our 
cycles of manifestation, even in the minor cycle of 
day and night, we must enter the Silence and renew 
our forces. If we refuse to do so voluntarily, say by 
remaining awake and active during night periods, we 
will soon lose our life-forces, and ultimately great 
Saturn will compel us to enter upon a period of inac- 
tivity that is so long that the organism from which 
we have withdrawn cannot maintain itself, and we, 
therefore, call this period of enforced rest and silence 
physical death. 

On the contrary, when we have mastered the Silence 
and acquired its power, when we are able to keep the 
Sabbath day wholly, we can renew our life-forces, 
revivify and re-create our bodies periodically little by 
little and not be obliged to take the longer period of 
rest, and to re-create an entire new body in another 



The 4th Commandment 169 

incarnation. Through voluntarily entering the Silence 
and properly applying its forces, we can gradually 
change the outer personality so that it will continually 
express our stage of spiritual unfoldment. At a 
corresponding period the personality would therefore 
be quite as different and express quite as great spiritual 
advance as though we had been forced to leave it and 
take our rest in the grave and then built up a new 
body. In other words, if we properly correlate with 
Saturn through the Silence, and conquer him as the 
grim Reaper, we can remain incarnate cycle after 
cycle by re-creating the organism in accordance with 
the necessities of each new period. In fact this is 
actually done by those who have entered the higher 
stages of Mastery and developed the 2 higher faculties, 
yet who still desire to retain a physical vehicle. But 
of course to one who has attained such control of the 
life-forces, the mere possession of a physical body does 
not confine him to the physical plane, nor does it make 
the flesh an earthly prison house. This is the great 
truth back of the doctrine of Regeneration and Im- 
mortality in the Flesh. 

The Sabbath day, therefore, means a period in which 
we are to rest, meditate and enter into oneness with 
all creation; to vibrate in unison with all planes of 
manifestation ; to commune with the 1 God, the union 
with whom is the object of our evolution. Therefore, 
the Law blesses this period and hallows it or makes it 
holy, for it enables us to enter into oneness with the 
whole. 



CHAPTER 18 

THE NUMBER 5. 

"Let us note one more thing in relation to the 
mysterious number Five. It symbolizes at one 
and the same time the Spirit of Life Eternal 
and the spirit of life and love terrestrial * * * in 
the human compound ; and, it includes divine and 
infernal magic, and the universal and the individ- 
ual quintessence of being." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, II, 612. 

"There is but one temple in the Universe, and 
that is the body of Man. Nothing is holier than 
that high form. * * * We are the miracle of 
miracles — the great inscrutable Mystery." 

— Lectures on Heroes, Carlyle. 

After the Foundation Stone has been laid 4 square, 
the number 5 must next be considered. This is the 
most deeply occult of all the digits, and few grasp 
its full significance and what it stands for in their 
evolution and accomplishment. 5 is the Number of 
Humanity and symbolizes man in a 2 fold aspect, 
for man stands at the apex of physical evolution, the 
crowning point of all the lower kingdoms, and the 
forerunner and image of God, or stands midway 
between 1 and 10. "Man is the universally structured 
type. In one aspect all lower types rise toward man 
and are completed in him. * * * Moreover, man is 
the only species that stands erect, with cerebrum poised 
at right angles to the spine ; — the only species with a 
spoken language, an alphabet, a recorded history, and 
a prospective future." 1 Being composed of the 2 and 
the 3, number 5 shows that in humanity the terrestrial 
and the Divine meet and blend. 



1 The Romance of Revelation Through Natural History, Edward 
Whipple. 



The Number 5 171 

By occult addition 5 equals 1+2+3+4+5=15. 
Number 15 is sometimes called the devil, but by 
occult reduction 15^1+5=6, the Number of The 
Christ-force, the antithesis of the devil. Therefore, as 
number 5 man stands midway between The Christ and 
the devil. 2 Also number 5 is composed of 2 equal parts 
with 1 in the middle, thus : 2-1-2 or man and woman 
co-equal, with the Divine 1 life as the balance or 
equalizer of both. 

Number 5 is composed of 4 and 1 or the foundation 
of nature and the divine 1 Life manifesting through 
it. This points to man's true constitution, for he 
contains within him, even in his physical body, all the 
principles and forces to be found in manifested nature, 
and during his intra-uterine life passes through stages 
analogous to the various kingdoms of nature — vege- 
table, fish, reptile, animal, up to the human. Hence 
man is a synthesis of the macrocosm, the squaring of 
all the forces or 4. But he is also the direct intelligent 
agent of the 1, or God's representative on earth. 

Thus number 5 means man, but man standing upon 
and dominating the lower, the physical, the human, 
and reaching up into the higher realms, the Divine. 
For the number 5, like man's 5th Principle, mind, is 
dual. It belongs both to the lower square and to 
the higher triad. It is man with his 2 feet planted 
firmly upon the Foundation Stone on earth, but with 
his head in the heavens. His feet have 5 toes each 
because without the dual aspect of his 5 senses — his 
understanding of the physical plane — the foundation 
upon which he stands would be imperfect. 

His 2 hands symbolize his dual power of accom- 
plishing through the higher joined to and dominating 
the lower. The 5 fingers on each hand symbolize the 
fact that to be complete or balanced man must manifest 
2 fives and become 10. For only by using both his 

2 See chapter on Number IS in Vol. II. 



172 The Key to the Universe 

hands can he accomplish his perfect work. He has 2 
hands because he must accomplish on the physical 
plane, by dealing with and using the pairs of opposites 
according to the Law of Duality, and by their use be 
about his Father's business, in workshop, field, office 
or home, even as Jesus is said to have worked in his 
father's carpenter shop. But at the same time he must 
work out and accomplish his higher mission in helping 
on the evolution of all the kingdoms, and hence the 
planet itself. 

With 1 hand he can reach up and take the hand of 
his Father-in-heaven and accomplish in the higher 
realms, and at the same time he can reach down with 
the other and help on the evolution of the lower king- 
doms, thus uniting Spirit and matter in humanity and 
becoming the Universal Mediator. 

5 is the number of the planet Mercury, ruler of the 
Intelligent Principle in man. This is symbolized by 
the winged Messenger of the Gods, representing the 
power (thought) which enables man to stand in the 
center of the universe and either send his thought down 
into the depths or soar into the highest realms cogni- 
zable by man. So does number 5 stand in the center 
of the numerical system — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 — being 
the only number which is not paired to produce 10, 
thus: 1+9=10, 2+8, 3+7 and 4+6 all equal 10, 
leaving 5 unpaired, it forming 10 only when joined to 
another and complementary 5. As 10 is the number 
of a complete cycle, this proves mathematically that 
man or 5 can never complete his cycle of evolution and 
spiritual attainment until his number has been doubled 
or until he has found his true counterpart or comple- 
ment. The same truth is revealed in the Bible 
allegory in which the pairs of birds and animals were 
brought to Adam to be named, "but for Adam there 
was not found an help meet for him," 3 until he was 

3 Genesis, ii, 20. 



The Number 5 173 

doubled or until he had found his equal. This again 
shows that man stands at the middle point of evolu- 
tion, overshadowing and influencing the kingdoms 
beneath him, as he is overshadowed and influenced by 
the kingdoms above him. Therefore, just as each of 
the other digits can be paired to make 10, while 5 
remains alone, so Adam had to remain alone until his 
equal was evolved. This is a mathematical proof of 
the equality of the sexes. The true man, like number 
5, is composed of the masculine and feminine prin- 
ciples, for 5 is made up of the masculine 3 and the 
feminine 2. On this account the Pythagoreans taught 
that number 5 rules marriage. Number 5 is called 
the Number of the Heart because it stands unpaired in 
the center of the decade (10) as the heart stands an 
unpaired organ in the center of the body. 

5 is also called the Beam or Balance since, like the 
heart, it stands at the center of the cross formed by 
the upright body and the outstretched arms. This 
indicates that 1 important object of man's evolution 
is to attain balance upon the cross of matter, for 
The Christ in him must be crucified upon this cross 
until balance is attained. Again man is the Beam 
through which the Scales of the Universe, Spirit and 
Matter, must be balanced. "The ancients had a maxim, 
'Pass not above the beam of the balance,' that is — be 
not cause of injury; for they said, let the members in 
a series form a Balance Beam. Thus when a weight 
depresses the Beam, an obtuse angle is formed by the 
Depressed side and the Tongue verticle, and an acute 
angle on the other. Hence it is worse to do than to 
suffer injury, and the authors of injury sink down to 
the infernal regions, but the injured rise to the gods. 
Since, however, injustice pertains to inequality, equali- 
zation is necessary, which is effected by addition and 
subtraction." 4 But reference to number 5 as the 



Numbers, Westcott, 60. 



174 The Key to the Universe 

Balance Beam has a far greater significance than 
appears on the surface, for it again refers to man's 
place at the mid-point in the scale of evolution, where 
he must not only gain balance within himself, but must 
become the Beam by which the lower kingdoms shall 
be lifted up, weighed and matter redeemed by the 
power of The Christ working through him. The same 
idea is expressed frequently in the Bible, much import- 
ance being given to a just balance, "Just balances, 
just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye 
have." B The book of Job being but an allegory of 
Initiation, Job is made to say : "Let me be weighed in 
an even balance, that God may know mine integrity." 6 
Indeed this is what Initiation does. Hence to obtain 
the higher Initiations we must seek balance and not 
be tossed hither and thither by the pairs of opposites 
(the 2) but balance them through the power of the 
Divine (the 3) within. "A false balance is abomina- 
tion to the Lord (the Law) ; but a just weight is his 
delight." 7 When king Belshazzar, the last king of 
Babylon, was judged, the 5 "fingers of a man's hand 
wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister 
of the wall of the king's palace ; and the king saw the 
part of the hand that wrote. * * * And this is the 
writing that was written * * * MENE ; God hath 
numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL ; Thou 
art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 
PERES ; Thy kingdom is divided." 8 Thus the division 
of man's kingdom is ever the final result of an unjust 
balance; for through an unjust balance the pairs of 
opposites sweep man away from the A of the Divine; 
the 3 and the 2 are separated and his kingdom is 
divided; the earthly (4) is separated from the 
Divine (1). 

Among the Greeks the number 5 was held so sacred 
that on the lintels of their temples where the numerals 

• Leviticus, xix, 36. 7 Proverbs, xi, 1. 

• Job, xxxi, 6. * Daniel, v, 5, 26-7-8. 



The Number 5 175 

were carved, the number 5 was inlaid in pure gold. 
This numeral was also carved on an amulet and worn 
around the neck by the Greeks and Romans as a pro- 
tection against evil spirits. 

5 refers to the 5 sacred words — corresponding to 
the 5 sacred words of Brahma — said to have been 
written upon the shining garment of Jesus at his glori- 
fication, namely, "Zama Zama Ozza Rachama Ozai," 
which is translated ''The robe, the glorious robe of my 
strength." The reality back of this symbol is that num- 
ber 5 represents the 5 mystic powers which must be 
attained and manifested through the robe of flesh by 
every resurrected Initiate after he has passed his 3 
days in the tomb, ere he can attain the Great Initiation 
symbolized by the resurrection of Jesus. These 5 
mystic powers are the result of the unfoldment and 
use of man's 5 senses upon the inner planes of con- 
sciousness. Today the true use of man's senses is as 
it were covered with a veil, so that only in exceptional 
cases is 1 here and there able to extend the functioning 
of his senses to the inner worlds. Clairvoyance, while 
often called a 6th sense, is but the extension of the 
sense of sight to include the astral world, clairaudience, 
the extension of hearing, psychometry, the sense of 
touch, etc., taste and smell being generally overlooked. 
But this is only drawing aside 1 corner of the veil, for 
when man dons "the glorious robe of his strength" he 
will find the functioning of his senses extended as far 
beyond the astral as the range of a color is extended 
by the multiplication of its shadings. And out of the 
synthesis of all these extended senses there will be 
evolved a new or 6th sense which will be incompre- 
hensible to the man who is confined to a more limited 
use of his senses, and from the perfection of the 6th 
sense a 7th will be evolved. It is to the experiences 
of these higher worlds, reached momentarily during 



176 The Key to the Universe 

periods of meditation and contemplation, which St. 
Paul alluded when he said they were "unlawful (t. e., 
impossible) to utter" or express in words. 

The body thus glorified through the 5 powers is 
called the Robe of Initiation. Unless the Neophyte 
has donned this Robe, and manifested its powers in 
the flesh, the Great Initiation has not been passed. 
These powers become 7 only after the robe of physical 
existence has been laid aside and the Soul has donned 
the glorious, immortal Body of the Resurrection, the 
Seamless Robe of Jesus, called the Nirmanakaya 
Robe, or the Body of the Fire-breath. In other words, 
man is the Lord of Creation when he has woven the 
5 mystic powers into his body and donned "the glorious 
robe of his strength." But when he has donned the 
Nirmanakaya body he has become more than man. This 
should give the student a glimpse of what ultimate 
Mastery means, yet it should not discourage him; for 
we see the miracle being foreshadowed every day in 
momentary glimpses and visions of the higher worlds, 
and we have the prophecy given us in symbolic dreams. 

Man or humanity has 3 divine offices or functions, 
Prophet, Priest and King, and 2 physical expressions, 
male and female, through which the divine functions 
must be manifested on earth ere perfection is attained. 
As he transmits the Will of the Divine to earth he 
becomes the Prophet in the true meaning of the word, 
i. e. } "one who speaks as the inspired representative 
of a divine Being or interprets the divine will." As he 
mediates between the lower and the higher and holds 
out his hands in blessing he becomes the Priest; and 
as he rules himself and all the lower kingdoms he 
becomes the King who is Lord over all. As long as 
man instills enmity, cruelty and antagonism into the 
lower kingdoms by his ruthless slaughter of birds and 
animals for sport, etc., and slays his fellowmen in war, 



The Number 5 177 

the lower kingdoms will retaliate. The curse which 
God is represented as placing on the lower kingdoms 
when man was turned out of Eden was in reality a 
prophecy of the Karma which man must continue to 
reap from the lower kingdoms because of the forces 
he places upon them, his resulting suffering and death 
slowly bringing about an awakening to his true heri- 
tage, i. e., his power as Priest to bless all kingdoms. 
And verily just as the curse has operated and still 
operates today, so shall the blessing, until some day 
man shall find himself King and Ruler over all the 
kingdoms of earth. 



CHAPTER 19 

the number 5 — (Continued). 

"The Fifth Group of Celestial Beings is sup- 
posed to contain in itself the dual attributes of 
both the spiritual and physical aspects of the 
Universe; the two poles, so to say, of Mahat, 
the Universal Intelligence, and the dual nature 
of man, the spiritual and the physical. Hence its 
number Five, doubled and made into Ten, con- 
necting it with Makara, the tenth sign of the 
Zodiac." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 241. 

The celestial sign Capricorn, which is today the 10th 
sign of the zodiac, is composed of 28 stars (28=2-f- 
8=10), grouped in the form called the goat, and 
symbolizes this number 5 in its dual aspect. This is 
the most mystical, yet the most illuminating sign of 
the zodiac when we learn to correlate with its forces, 
for it shows man how to become the Lord of Creation. 

"The Fifth Order [of Celestial Beings] is a 
very mysterious one, as it is connected with the 
microcosmic pentagon, the five-pointed star, rep- 
resenting man. In India and Egypt, these Dhyanis 
were connected with the Crocodile, and their 
abode is Capricornus. * * * It becomes the 
task of the Fifth Heirarchy — the mysterious 
Beings that preside over the constellation Capri- 
cornus, Makara, or 'Croceodile', * * * to inform 
the empty and ethereal animal form, and make 
it the Rational Man. * * * The Crocodiles 
in the celestial Nile are 5, and the God Toom 
* * * calls forth these Crocodiles in his fifth 
creation." * 

In olden times Capricorn was called Makara, the 
fishman or the crocodile. Even today its symbol is a 
goat with the body of a fish, another glyph for man's 

1 S. D., I, 254; II, 613. 



The Number 5 — (Continued) 179 

power to swim in the depths, yet climb the loftiest 
peaks. It is the leviathan mentioned in Job (xli), 
which emerges from the depths at the beginning of 
every cycle, climbs to the highest point of attainment 
and returns to the depths at the close of the cycle. Ma 
means 5 or man and kara means a hand, hence Makara 
means the hand of man, his power to reach up and 
accomplish that unto which he puts his hand. The 
hand of man distinguishes him from all other animals, 
it being far more developed than that of the apes. It 
is not only the organ by which he accomplishes today, 
but it contains the record of all that he has accom- 
plished in the past and a prophecy of that which he 
can accomplish in any 1 incarnation. "I will write my 
law upon their hands." 

What is true of the individual is correspondingly 
true of the Races. We are passing through the 5th 
Great Race and are still within the shadow of the 5th 
sub-race. Bearing in mind the possibility of every- 
thing symbolized by number 5 becoming the over- 
shadowing power and dominating that which is phys- 
ical, also its dual nature by which it can reach up into 
the Divine, we can grasp the significance of evolution, 
and especially of this cycle through which mankind 
is passing today. A glance at history will show us 
how man or humanity has dominated the lower king- 
doms ; how he has mastered the elements as they work 
in and through himself and nature. He has delved 
into the earth and brought forth her treasures. He 
has harnessed the lightning and with it girdled the 
earth. He has made the flame his servant, and has 
traveled through the air. He has accomplished all this 
because he is man, the 5th creation ; because he can 
reach up above the things of earth and enter the higher 
realms. Just as the half terrestrial and half aquatic 
animal Makara is supposed to dwell in the sea or climb 



180 



The Key to the Universe 



to the mountain tops, so can man sink himself beneath 
the sea of illusion — the material world — or climb to the 
heights of spiritual attainment. 

"The great warrior race of India, the Sikhs, wear 
5 articles whose names begin with K. Kes, long hair ; 
Kaugha, a comb ; Kripan, a sword ; Kachh, short draw- 
ers, and Kara, a steel bracelet." 2 They have 5 Essen- 
tials in their religion, namely, ( 1 ) Simplicity of belief, 
worship, life; (2) Salvation for All; (3) Unworldli- 
ness — to be in the world but not of it is their glory; 
(4) The Name, the repetition of the sacred name 
Wahguru, and (5) Meditation, "They who meditate 
on God are emancipated." Their 5 virtues are con- 
tentment, compassion, piety, patience, and morality. 
The 5 deadly sins are lust, anger, covetousness, worldly 
love, and pride. 

The mystic wand — said to have been used by Moses 
and Aaron and all Initiates — is described as a rod with 
a 5-pointed star at its end (Fig. 6) with which it is 




Fig. 6 

said all magical rites — both white and black — are per- 
formed. Before this magic symbol of the pentacle 

3 The Religion of the Sikhs, Field, 26. 



The Number 5 — (Continued) 181 

every elemental force must bow. According to filiphas 
Levi : "The empire of the will over the astral light, 
which is the physical soul of the four elements, is 
represented in magic by the pentagram. * * * 
The pentagram signifies the domination of the mind 
over the elements, and by this sign are enchained the 
demons of the air, the spirits of fire, the phantoms of 
the water, and ghosts of earth. Equipped with this 
sign, and suitably disposed, you may behold the infinite 
through the medium of that faculty which is like the 
Soul's eye, and you will be ministered unto by legions 
of angels and hosts of fiends." 3 But this must not 
be taken to mean that by the mere possession of this 
mystic symbol all these things can be brought to pass. 
For while the symbol is indeed potent, still only as man 
recognizes his divinity and unfolds the cube within 
and is crucified upon its cross, can he become both 
magician and the true talisman. Man himself is this 
pentacle, for with his hands out-stretched, his feet spread 

and his head erect, he forms the 5-pointed star 

Standing upon the Foundation Stone of Truth, with 
his hands upraised in praise or outspread in blessing, 
and with his head to interpret the reports of his 5 
senses, he must perfect his manhood and dominate all 
the kingdoms. But he must begin by dominating 
himself, instead of oppressing and dominating his 
fellow man and the lower kingdoms. 

The flames, which are said to issue from the 5 points 
of the pentacle on the end of the wand, are the powers 
inherent in the perfected body, the glorious robe of 
man's strength. For when the 5 senses of man are 
illumined by Divine Fire, they will radiate the spiritual 
powers by which he can perform all the miracles of 

* Transcendental Magie, 61. 




182 The Key to the Universe 

Moses the Lawgiver and Emancipator. The mystic 
significance of this symbol is that as man, through his 
spiritual development, lifts up the fiery force of the 
Kundalini power which functions through the spinal 
column (the rod), and with it flaming forth from his 
5 extremities and illuminating his 5 senses (the pen- 
tacle) on all planes, he becomes indeed a magician, 
capable of performing either white or black magic. 
The flaming pentacle also represents man's uplifted 
hand with his magnetic force streaming from his 5 
fingers. The flaming pentacle is but another version 
of the truth symbolized by the parable of the 5 wise 
virgins who kept their lamps trimmed and burning, 
while the pentacle reversed refers to the 5 foolish vir- 
gins who could not enter in. 

The Roman general, Antigonus, who was beheaded 
by Mark Antony after the former's raid into Syria 
with the Parthians in A. D. 40, is said to have encour- 
aged his troops on 1 occasion by telling them that he 
had been shown a pentacle — regarded as a symbol of 
power, success and safety — in a dream. In the worship 
of Dionysos or Bacchus, the leaves of ivy and the vine 
were used in symbolic decorations, both leaves being 
shaped like a somewhat flattened pentacle. 

Since the pentacle represents man, its reversal — the 
1 point down and the 2 points up — is a symbol of black 
magic, for this would place man's head and hands on 
the earth and his feet in the air. This would symbolize 
man focusing his 5 God-powers downward on the 
lower planes ; on himself instead of on the Divine, and 
proceeding downward instead of evolving upward ; 
using his head to scheme and his hands to pull down 
that which is uplifting and helpful, as he grasps for 
self at the expense of others, instead of blessing and 
uplifting all. His feet in the air would indicate man 
trampling God under foot and making his own intellect 



The Number 5 — (Continued) 183 

(feet — understanding) his God. In thus turning his 
powers downward he perverts both life (3) and love 
(2). In other words, the pentacle reversed symbolizes 
man immersed in self and aspiring toward self-ag- 
grandizement instead of toward selfless union with 
nature, his fellow men and with the Divine. Therefore 
never reverse this symbol, especially when worn upon 
the person as an ornament. 

While by reversing this magical symbol — as is inten- 
tionally done by black magicians — certain results of 
a diabolical character may be attained, no black 
magician seeking merely for phenomena or personal 
power has ever or can ever truly enter into man's 
heritage of power, filiphas Levi, although assuring 
us of the potency of this symbol and at the same time 
stating that the position of the points is of no conse- 
quence, nevertheless, as a result of such reversal, ac- 
cording to his own descriptions, passed through such 
experiences as the ordinary student could not endure 
and retain his sanity and which even Levi could not 
think of without a shudder. Such diabolical experi- 
ences, while possible as a result of the perverted use 
of magic, are no more a necessary part of man's 
higher development than the ferocity and antagonism 
of beast, the deadliness of reptile, the poison of herb 
or the devastation of storms and cataclysms, are a 
necessary part of the phases of his physical develop- 
ment. Once created and brought into manifestation, 
however, they are utilized by the Great Law to awaken 
man to the necessity of seeking for a higher and more 
Divine power than that of his mere human intellect. 
All such things ultimately work for good in that even 
through suffering they teach man that he creates and 
evokes ill through his misuse or perversion of his 
God-powers. All the sin, suffering, disease, antago- 
nism and unbrotherliness manifesting in the world 



184 The Key to the Universe 

today are the result of man's reversal or perversion of 
the sacred pentacle, i. e., himself and his powers. 

In The Voice of the Silence we read of the 7 portals 
which lead the aspirant across the waters "on to the 
other shore," and the mystic keys which open them. 
The key which opens the 5th portal is "the dauntless 
energy that fights its way to the supernal Truth, out 
of the mire of lies terrestrial." 4 Without this energy 
which knows no defeat, all his powers would remain 
dormant. In other words, it takes dauntless energy 
and clear seeing for man to balance in himself the 
extremes of the pairs of opposites, called here "lies 
terrestrial" ; for it means being absolutely true to his 
Real Self, fixing his gaze upon the Divine A whose 
light alone can illumine the lower self and show him 
how to attain a just balance. This energy is quite as 
necessary in his spiritual unfoldment as it is in the 
accomplishments of his physical life. 

Let number 5 and its symbol, the pentacle, remind 
you 1st that man is both human and Divine; that he 
stands to the lower kingdoms as a God, to bless or 
curse in proportion to the degree to which he finds a 
just balance and metes out just weight to all things. 
Hence at the entrance to the Path of Attainment 
stands the injunction, "Man, know Thyself," for only 
as man knows his divine powers and his mundane 
pairs of opposites, and has earnestly gathered up all 
that he finds in the lower self, and has resolutely cast 
it into the crucible, that it may be purified and harmon- 
ized by the Divine and brought to perfect balance in 
him, can he truly know himself. Let it also remind 
you that as man you stand in the center of your uni- 
verse and are responsible for your use of the powers 
which enable you to rise to the heights of spiritual 
attainment or sink lower than the beasts. 

With this necessary prelude, try to realize that 

4 Fragment, III. 



The Number 5 — (Continued) 185 

within you there is this divine, magical power of 
accomplishing-; of ruling yourself, the earth and the 
lower kingdoms, and of knowing the secrets of Nature. 
But, beloved students, remember that this can be ac- 
complished only by laying 4 square the mystic Foun- 
dation Stone in your hearts and lives, and upon it 
focusing the forces which you would use ; for without 
this foundation the forces you seek to use will tear you 
in pieces and the structure of your lives will fall in 
ruins about your heads, like the man in the Gospel who 
built his house upon the sand instead of upon the 
Rock of Truth. Your magic wand, with its pentacle, 
must 1st be pointed inward upon the Stone and made 
to dominate yourself ere you can stand upon your 
Foundation Stone and dominate in the higher realms. 
Begin then today to realize your magical possibili- 
ties. Realize that your power is commensurate with 
the use you make of it. While you use it to oppress, 
degrade or dominate your fellow men, or for selfish 
purposes, it is mercifully limited, but when lifted up 
upon the wand of spiritual aspiration, and filled with 
the flame of love, ardor and fervor to accomplish the 
mission of The Christ, there is no limit to its possi- 
bilities. Realize that while there is 1 dark corner in 
your personality which you refuse to make obey your 
magic wand, by just so much is your power curtailed. 
You are glued to that spot, whatever it may be, until 
you have become its ruler. How can you look for 
spiritual power or expect to penetrate into the 6th 
realm when you have not dominated the 4th? when 
you have not laid your Foundation Stone 4 square and 
cannot dominate yourself? Again we say: "Man, 
know thyself !" 



CHAPTER 20 

the 5th letter, He (n). 

"God produced He, predominant in speech, 
crowned it, combined it and formed with it Aries 
in the Universe, Nisan (April) in the Year, and 
the right foot of Man." 

— Sepher Yetzirah, 24. 

The 5th Hebrew letter is He, 1 of the 12 simple 
letters. It corresponds to the zodiacal sign Aries 
and with the function of the breath in its relation to 
speech. As we have learned that number 5 wherever 
found refers to man or humanity in some aspect, so 
the 5th letter represents man as distinguished from all 
other animals. For while He is the Breath of Life 
which is shared by all animals, yet only man has the 
principle of Intelligence (Aries, the head) so well 
developed that he can use the breath to formulate and 
express his ideas in intelligent speech. While all ani- 
mals have some form of intelligent communication, 
still only man has the power of speech. 

He, however, expresses more than the breath which 
forms speech. Its greatest and most important mean- 
ing, and the 1 which was generally used by the He- 
brews, is in its relation to the renewal of life. Physi- 
cal breath alone cannot accomplish this. It can pro- 
long physical life somewhat, but is incapable of renew- 
ing it until it is consciously combined with the psychic 
breath, in which case it at once becomes the mediating 
principle between God and man, and between man and 
nature, also the link which attaches body to Spirit. 
Hence He is not only breath, but vitalized and spirit- 
ualized breath. 



The 5th Letter, He 187 

The sign Aries, which is here referred to the 5th 
letter, is the crown-sign of man, ruling the head. 
While we are told that "out of the abundance of the 
heart, the mouth speaketh," yet if man did not mani- 
fest his supremacy in his position at the head of the 
animal kingdom through the use of his head and the 
power of speech, he could not maintain that position. 
In the letter He, as in number 5, we find man or 
the microcosm considered as a vehicle for the expres- 
sion of the forces of the macrocosm; again the link 
between God and Nature. 

He is also called a Window in that he who has 
mastered the mysteries of the breath can look with 
clear eyes — which are the windows of the Soul — • 
through the prison house of flesh and the limitations 
of matter and behold the glories of the heaven world. 
It was this letter He, corresponding to our letter H, 
that was added to the names of both Sarai and Abram, 
to make them Sarah and Abraham. And by the 
bringing forth of their son Isaac — meaning laughter — 
the life of both was renewed and prolonged. Later 
on Abraham was commanded by the Lord (the Law) 
to offer up as a burnt offering his renewed life, joy 
and laughter (Isaac). Indeed, many of us think we 
are called upon to make the same sacrifice when life 
seems to demand that we give up that which is most 
dear to us. But after submitting to the decree and 
passing his test Abraham found a ram (Aries) caught 
by its horns (powers of the head) in the thicket to 
take the place of his child of promise as a sacrifice. 
Thus will we always find that when we are willing 
to make the sacrifice which the Law seems to demand, 
after we have passed the test interiorly we will not 
have to make the sacrifice outwardly, for we will find 
a substitute at our right hand. 

The ram symbolizes the head and its powers which 



188 The Key to the Universe 

are caught in the tangle of intellectual misconceptions 
which have resulted because man has been misled by 
the speech of those who have misinterpreted the Law 
(Lord), so that the physical mind or rational, human 
consciousness cannot see the Angel of Truth standing 
before the altar upon which we must place our sacri- 
fice. Yet as a result of the cry which bursts from our 
hearts as we bind our«lsaac upon the altar a new vision 
is vouchsafed to us. We open our eyes and see the 
ram and realize that irMs the misconceptions of the 
head and the perversions of our powers which we 
must lay upon the altar that they may be purified by 
the Fire of the Law. We will then understand that 
it is this ram that must be the real sacrifice that it may 
become the lamb which was slain from the founda- 
tion of the world, that its mystical "blood" — symbol- 
izing the spiritual life-force — might be given freely 
for the renewal and regeneration of all. This inter- 
pretation may seem vague and mystical to some, but 
to those who are real students of mysticism, i. e., who 
have been able to correlate to some extent with the 
ever hidden springs of Being, there will be no difficulty. 

Another interpretation is that the ram represents 
the powers of man's head caught in the thickets of 
worldly conditions where life itself makes him the 
victim of his use of speech. 

Just as Aries leads the signs of the zodiac, so does 
the letter He become a leader, and so in turn must the 
masculine force of intellect be the power which shall 
lead the flocks of masculine thoughts and feminine 
intuitions into the green pastures and beside the still 
waters. Just as the ram tears down the underbrush 
with his strong horns and makes a path through which 
the sheep and lambs may reach the tender, succulent 
grass which grows under the brush, so should the 
intellect tear aside all hampering conceptions, over- 



The 5th Letter, He 189 

come mental difficulties and lead the thoughts where 
they can feed upon the tender manifestations of Divine 
Love and Compassion which are growing unseen 
about the roots of the outward conditions. Yet the 
intellect should always be ready to sacrifice itself at 
the dictates of the Law as revealed through the illu- 
mined heart. 



THE 5th TAROT CARD 

THE POPE 




IE PAPE 



n 




MEDIEVAL 





EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



The 5th Tarot Card, The Pope 191 

the 5th tarot card, The Pope. 

The 5th card is called the Pope or High Priest. It 
represents an Initiate into the Mysteries seated be- 
tween the 2 pillars of the sanctuary. This symbolizes 
that to become an Initiate man must find a perfect 
balance and rule his spiritual life while sitting at rest 
between the 2 pillars Jakin and Boas, Justice and 
Mercy, or the masculine and feminine aspects of sex. 

Another meaning of Jakin and Boas is that the right 
hand pillar represents the Law, the left hand pillar 
Liberty to obey or disobey. Both are necessary to 
uphold the Temple of Humanity and to sound the 
sacred word, for obedience through compulsion can 
never bring freedom. Man must deliberately choose 
to obey. Hence, only as man finds this seat and 
chooses to sit in it and rule, can he understand and 
fulfill his office of Priest. 

In his left hand he holds erect the triple cross. This 
is the Rod of Power by which he can penetrate into 
and rule the 3 worlds, and with poise, equilibrium 
and a calm understanding utilize the powers entrusted 
to him to bring forth on the 3 planes — physical, mental 
and spiritual. As ruler of the 3 worlds he wears the 
triple crown. His right hand forms the sign of Eso- 
tericism and is raised in blessing over the heads of 2 
kneeling figures, symbolizing that when the spiritual 
man has taken his seat as priest and ruler of the life 
he will bless both the masculine and feminine expres- 
sions of humanity which bow in reverence before him. 

THE 5TH COMMANDMENT. 

"Honor thy father and thy mother: that 
thy days may be long upon the land which 
the Lord thy God giveth thee." 

— Exodus, xx, 12. 



192 The Key to the Universe 

To take this Commandment literally is to play sad 
havoc with all occult teaching; for are we not taught 
that the aim of evolution is to rise above the bondage 
of physical existence, i. e., to accomplish our work in 
the Grand Plan, help our fellow men and spiritualize 
our bodies and the planet on which we dwell, in as 
short a time as possible? Why, then, should we be 
enticed into paying filial respect by what, from an 
occult standpoint, is an empty promise, namely, that 
our days of pilgrimage and travail here on earth 
should be lengthened? 

While exoterically filial respect, honor and obedi- 
ence to parents is a positive virtue which should early 
be inculcated, for it is sadly lacking in present-day 
children, still by the illumination of the Inner Light 
we see that to take this merely as a literal command 
to simply honor the man and woman who supplied us 
with a physical vehicle in which to incarnate, would 
not give us its true meaning. For in the case of 
bodies conceived in lust and sin and brought into the 
world sick, deformed, mentally deficient and physically 
cursed from birth, little honor is due the parents, 
except for affording us an opportunity to work out 
the past Karma which drew us to them for incarna- 
tion. 

Since 5 is the Number of Humanity, while we can 
personalize this Commandment we must also consider 
it in its universal aspect. The Father of humanity, the 
Father of all, is the active or Positive Principle of 
the Godhead ; that active Principle which ever cleaves 
the darkness of Chaos when the gods say : "Let there 
be light." The Mother of humanity is that mighty 
Passive Principle which gathers up the Light as it 
penetrates Chaos and cherishes it in her bosom. It is 
forever the tender, brooding Mother-force which 
works on the germs of good in all things that they may 



The $th Commandment 193 

ultimately bring forth that good. It is that unseen 
Mother-love of the Godhead, hovering like a dove 
over its nestlings, which feeds with "food convenient 
for us" every hungry heart, even if that food be seem- 
ingly bitter to the taste ; the unseen agency which, 
when the fury of the tempest has spent itself and the 
sun shines forth, brings out the purifying effects. It 
is that mysterious force of healing which makes every 
wound, be it of the physical body, the mind or the 
heart, tend to heal, unless infected by man's interfer- 
ence, through his wrong thoughts, impure emanations 
or evil creations. It is that love which makes Time 
the great healer of all woes, the soother of all sorrows, 
the adjuster of all inharmonies ; that brings sunshine 
after rain, laughter after tears, and joy, deep and abid- 
ing, after sin, sorrow and repentance. In fact, it is 
the Illumination produced by the Light, the effect of 
its shining. Therefore, to honor the divine and living 
Father-Mother forces is to recognize that humanity is 
not mere 

"Dumb driven cattle * * * 
Whose hearts like muffled drums are beating 
Funeral marches to the grave," 

but children of the Divine Father-Mother, who must 
correlate with and obey their divine parents. 

The "land" which the Law of thy Good hath given 
thee is an abiding place in the field of manifestation, 
and a work to do in the Grand Plan of Redemption. 
Therefore, in so far as you make your life an honor 
to God and The Christ — the Divine Incarnation in the 
flesh of the Son of the Father-Mother — by giving 
honor and obedience to the divine laws, so shall you, 
in your immortal Divine Self, be long with or con- 
tinue to work consciously with the positive and nega- 



194 The Key to the Universe 

live forces back of humanity and evolution, until the 
Light of The Christ has been able to shine forth in 
and spiritualize all things — or the 5 of humanity is 
swallowed up in the 6 of The Christ — and the great 
Redemption of Manifestation is accomplished in num- 
ber/. 



CHAPTER 21 

THE NUMBER 6. 

Magical equilibrium is expressed in the Kabalah 
by the senery. "Considered in its first cause, this 
equilibrium is the will of God; it is liberty in 
man, and mathematical equilibrium in matter. 
Equilibrium produces stability and duration. 
Liberty generates the immortality of man, and the 
will of God gives effect to the laws of eternal 
reason." 

— Transcendental Magic, Levi, 75-6. 

Number 6 is primarily the Number of The Christ- 
force in nature, the force back of evolution. It is the 
Number of Unrest and Incompleteness in that it rep- 
resents the unrest of nature incomplete and ever be- 
coming, ever striving for perfection, ever changing 
form that The Christ-force may manifest more per- 
fectly. The Christ-force is the spiritual creative 
power back of the universal Urge Toward Perfection 
which is inherent in both nature and man. As we 
have said elsewhere : x "It is a spiritual emanation from 
the godhead, the Son of God, or the godhead in its 
creative aspect ; that mystic Power or Principle which 
fructifies and animates all manifestations of life. It is 
the Divine Creative Force, a great stream of life- 
giving, creative Essence which manifests in all things 
on all planes as the Animating Principle of the One 
Life. In Nature it is focused in and through the 
physical sun, for only as the sun pours out its life- 
giving, fructifying power — sheds its symbolic blood — 
can the One Life manifest in the various forms of 
Nature and evolve them to perfection. In the physi- 
cal universe it is the same Animating Principle that 

1 See lesson The Mystic Christ. 



196 The Key to the Universe 

flamed out from the godhead in the beginning when 
the Elohim said: 'Let there be light.' And it is this 
same mystic, creative Light which must enter the 
Chaos of your outer life, even as it did the Chaos of 
the solar system, ere your life can begin its conscious 
spiritual evolution. All the physical and mental evo- 
lution is but a preparation for this new and higher 
step. Witness Paul's confirmation of this view : 'For 
God, who commanded the light to shine out of dark- 
ness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of 
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
Christ.'" 2 

Number 6 therefore shows that the cause of all evo- 
lution is the Urge to Perfection inherent in every liv- 
ing thing. This urge results in the conscious adapta- 
tion of the organism to its environment, in contradis- 
tinction to the so-called scientific theory that evolution 
results from blind and mechanical reaction of the or- 
ganism to its environment. This inherent Urge 
Toward Perfection is symbolized by the geometrical 
formation of the figure 6 itself. In the vertical line | 
we have the 1 God, the 1 Life, etc., coming down to 
manifest within the O of the microcosm, man, thus : 

O, that it may inform, fructify and evolve all the 
germs of life within it. The O of the 6 may also be 
considered as the microcosm which contains all man's 
unmanifested God-powers, while the line running up- 
ward symbolizes the unrest and aspiration of the Soul 
which is determinedly reaching up and endeavoring 
to manifest ever greater degrees of Divinity. It is 
also the Ladder of God, the Antaskarana along which 
the angels are continually descending and ascending. 
The 6th Principle in man is Buddhi or the Soul- 
principle which cannot rest until it finds its spiritual 
home and reaches the perfection of manifestation in 

3 II Corinthians, iv, 6. 



The Number 6 197 

number 7. Great as is number 5, it is but the prepa- 
ration of man for number 6, for in number 6 we have 
a higher principle (Soul) added to the merely human 
(5) — just as the human was added to the merely ani- 
mal — the "breath of life" which makes him "a living 
Soul" and Divine, instead of allowing him to remain 
merely a human animal. It is the inner urge of this 
Soul-principle toward perfection of unfoldment and 
expression that causes the 6 sided cube of the purely 



animal man to unfold into the cross 



or tree 



upon which the spiritual man must be crucified in 
matter until the lower square of the unfolded cube 
has been lifted up or indrawn and the cross has been 
balanced. Man cannot be at rest until he has become 
1 with the Animating Principle of nature, and recog- 
nizes that the same creative Principle works in him 
to bring forth perfection as it does in Nature. 

That 6 is the Number of The Christ-force is con- 
firmed by the number symbolism of the Gnostics as set 
forth by Marcus. "After 'six days/ that is to say, in 
the seventh stage since the disciple first set his feet 
upon the path, he ascended into the 'mountain' — a 
graphic symbol for the higher states of consciousness. 
* * * The six (the arahat) being thus of the same 
essence as the World-mother (Wisdom) contains es- 
sentially in himself the whole number of all the ele- 
ments or powers. * * * Again, it was on the 
'sixth day,' the 'preparation,' that the divine economy 
or order of things, manifested the 'last man,' the 'man 
from heaven,' for the new birth or regeneration of the 
'first man' or 'man of earth' ; and further the passion 
began in the sixth hour and ended in the sixth hour, 



198 The Key to the Universe 

when the initiate was nailed to the cross. All of which 
was designated to indicate the power of creation (in- 
ception) and regeneration or rebirth (consummation), 
typified in the number 6. * * * Again, the spoken 
or effable name of the Savior, Jesus, consists of 6 
letters, while His ineffable name consists of 24. * * * 
Again, at the baptism there descended upon Jesus 
* * * the dove, which soars again to heaven, its 
upward course completing the Jesus (or 6) and mak- 
ing him into the Christ (or 12), the enformation ac- 
cording to knowledge, or perfect illumination." 3 

Much has been said about the coming 6th sub-race 
into which we are now entering and in which the seed 
of the 6th Great Race shall be sown, and we look 
forward with great expectation to its accomplishments, 
but to comprehend that which shall be we must con- 
sider the significance of the various Races. In the 
5th Race man reaches the point where he is above the 
mere physical, animal man (4), and is the human (5), 
with the power to dominate. But at this point in his 
evolution he has also the power to reach out to number 
6 and begin to contact 6th Race powers. During the 
4th Race man struggled through the astral world, and 
by his psychic powers and the lower aspects of mind 
dominated and enslaved the lower kingdoms. During 
the 5th Race man has been learning to dominate the 
lower kingdoms through the use of his magic penta- 
cle and is reaching up into the 6th or Christ-power. 
During the 6th Race he will evolve and ultimately 
dominate through spiritual power. Even today man 
is grasping the ideal of dominating as a Soul rather 
than as a king of the physical world. Ultimately 
there must c6me the Super-man, who shall dominate 
the physical and reach up into the higher realms and 
find his fulfillment in the 7th Race. Number 5 is the 
sign of accomplishment, number 6 the struggle toward 

* Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, Mead, 370-1-5. 



The Number 6 199 

a higher accomplishment, and number 7 the Crown of 
Attainment. 

6 is the Number of Toil and Labor, also the Great 
Work which each Soul must accomplish. "Six days 
shalt thou labor, and do all thy work/' says the Com- 
mandment. The Children of Israel gathered their 
manna during 6 days of the week, but none on the 
7th. "In 6 days the Lord (Elohim) made heaven and 
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on 
the seventh day." 4 

Remembering that the word Lord refers to the great 
Law governing the manifestations of The Christ-force, 
we at once grasp the significance of these 6 days of 
creation. Their symbolism is given by filiphas Levi 
as follows : 

1st day of creation. "The light splendid and radi- 
ant, Unity (No. 1)." 

2nd day. "The firmament, or the necessary separa- 
tion between Spirit and form, between the fixed and 
the volatile, between the heavens and the earth 
(No. 2)." 

3d day. "Germination of the earth under the influ- 
ence of the heavens. Germination begins with the 
revelation of the ternary (No. 3)." 

4th day. "The Sun and the Moon rule over the 
day and the night. Division of the seasons by the 
quarternary. Primitive quadrature of the circle 
(No. 4)." 

5th day. "Life manifests itself in the bosom of the 
elements ; constitution of the kingdom of man in the 
number five (No. 5)." 

6th day. "The earth and the fire respond to the air 
and the water and give their living animals ; the tri- 
angle which is the reflection of that of Jehovah forms 
itself in the soul of man and God says to him : 'facimus 

* Exodus, xx, 11. 



200 The Key to the Universe 

hominem,' for man must share in his own creation 
(No. 6)." 

7th day. "On the Seventh day God rests; that is, 
the Septenary, being the perfect number, there remains 
nothing to be done after it (No. 7)." 

He also gives the symbolism of the first 6 chapters 
of Genesis as follows : 

1st Chapter. "The unity of God manifests and 
sums itself up in the unity of man (No. 1)." 

2nd Chapter. "God completes man by woman, and 
intelligence by the law (No. 2)." 

3rd Chapter. "The serpent interposes as a third 
between innocent man and woman. God interposes 
as a third between guilty man and woman (No. 3)." 

4th Chapter. "Adam and Eve begot Cain and Abel 
and from two they became four (No. 4)." 

5th Chapter. "Humanity sums itself up in the per- 
son of Seth, who is the heir of Adam and Eve in the 
place of Cain and Abel: one becomes the synthesis of 
four; It is the five in its whole power (No. 5)." 

6th Chapter. "Creation of political and religious 
humanity; beginning of the antagonism between the 
Sons of God and the children of men (No. 6)." 

7th Chapter. Noah and all his household rested in 
the ark for 40 days and 40 nights ere the raven was 
sent forth. "And the ark rested in the seventh month, 
on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the moun- 
tains of Ararat." (No. 7). 

"Can you believe that all this is found thus arranged 
by chance? and do you imagine one can understand a 
single word of the Bible without the key of the sacred 
numbers ?" B 

Not only did the Great Law create the earth, the 
sea, the heavens and the material universe, but that 
same Law is continually creating the same conditions 
both in nature and in man. Is it not the incessant 



' Unpublished Letters of Eliphas Levi. 



The Number 6 201 

working through matter of the same Christ-force that 
creates (evolves) out of the seed the tree? Out of 
the bud the flower and fruit ? And in man, out of his 
fleshly desires spiritual aspiration? Out of a dense 
physical body a Spiritual Body? All as a result of 
the godward Urge to Perfection? And the Law will 
continue thus to work as long as number 6 prevails ; 
for number 6 is Incompleteness, and the Great Law 
will rest only when the 7th day dawns, *. e., when there 
is no more incompleteness, hence nothing to work 
through. Therefore the Lord (Law) blessed the 7th 
day and hallowed it. This blessing is the result of 
work accomplished, the blessing of rest and satisfac- 
tion. All things that are completed are hallowed by 
the very fact of their completion. We toil over a task 
and when it is done and well done — which is the 
meaning of completeness — what a feeling of perfect 
satisfaction is ours ! We not only rest from our labor 
outwardly, but within we rest in the hallowed content 
that comes from a task accomplished. Hence number 
7 is always a time of hallowed rest, a blessing of ac- 
complishment, and it is the Law which brings it. 

It was also on the 6th day that man was created in 
the image of the Elohim. The Elohim are none other 
than, 

"The 'Sephiroth of Construction' — the 6 
Dhyan Chohans, or Manus, or Prajapatis, syn- 
thesized by the seventh 'B'raisheeth/ the First 
Emanation, or Logos, and who are called, there- 
fore, the Builders of the Lower or Physical Uni- 

l 

2 
verse, all belonging Below. These Six 

4 

6 
whose essence is of the Seventh, are the Upadhi, 
the Base or Fundamental Stone, on which the ob- 




202 The Key to the Universe 

jective Universe is built, the Noumenoi of all 
things. Hence they are, at the same time the 
Forces of Nature; the Seven Angels of the Pres- 
ence; the Sixth and Seventh Principles in Man; 
the spirito-psycho-physical Spheres of the Sep- 
tenary Chain, the Root Races, etc." 6 

In the vision of Enoch he tells us that the 6th gate 
of heaven is at the East. "The sun now returns to the 
east, entering into the sixth gate, and rising and set- 
ting in the sixth gate thirty-one days, on account of 
its signs." 7 At that period the day is twice as long 
as the night. In other words, the 6th gate or number 
6 represents the period for labor or, as Enoch called it, 
the 6 "hours" or the period for work. It is the long day, 
twice as long as the night, in which evolution struggles 
for perfection. And since the life-force manifests in 
a spiral, if we take a spiral having 6 turns we find that 
at the 6th turn the line representing the outgoing 
force is twice as long as that of the previous turn. 

The idea of connecting number 6 with Labor and the 
working forces of nature is well illustrated in the 
structure of the bee and the ant, which are important 
factors in evolution and the most widely accepted sym- 
bols of industry and systematized labor. Bees, wasps 
and ants, which all belong to the same family, are 
recognized as being 6 structured, being made up of 
mandibles, 2 pairs of wings and 3 abdominal seg- 
ments, the head being classed as 1 of these. They 
also have 6 legs. The social instincts and industrial 
habits of the ant have made a great impression on the 
minds of men in all ages. Solomon tells us: "Go to 
the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways and be 
wise." 8 Both the bee and the ant are said to have 
come to this planet from Venus, and in the Greek 
legend of Cupid and Psyche — which is the story of 
the Soul (Psyche) in its struggles through matter, its 

8 S. D., I, 402. 

7 Book of Enoch, 94. 

8 Remarkable that this is found in the 6th Chapter and 6th Verse of 
Proverbs, 



The Number 6 203 

seduction by mortal love (Cupid), and its final purifi- 
cation through incessant labor (6) and suffering — we 
again find the ant. When Venus gave Psyche seem- 
ingly impossible tasks to perform, the 6 legged ants 
came to her assistance and by their industry and pa- 
tient perseverance ultimately performed every task, 
even though Psyche had to descend to the infernal 
regions and wrest from Proserpine the secret of her 
beauty. Proserpine, who spent half her time among 
the gods and the other in the nether world as the wife 
of Pluto, represents nature. Hence the secret which 
the Soul must wrest from nature is the secret of the 
ever-working, rejuvenating and active power of the 1 
Life, The Christ-force or number 6. 



CHAPTER 22 

the number 6 — (Continued). 

"The Sixth Group (of the Dhyanis) remains 
almost inseparable from man, who draws from it 
all but his highest and lowest principles, or his 
spirit and body; the 5 middle human principles 
being the very essence of those Dhyanis." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 242. 

Hence it is that the elementals of the 4 elements or 
nature-forces emanating from the 6th Group, each 
appear to man's inner sight bearing the imprint of the 
number 6 as the seal or signature of their Group, just 
as man's body bears number 5 as the signature of the 
Group by which it was fashioned. The figure 6 borne 
by the earth elementals or Gnomes is small, short, 

squat, very thick and black, thus : w^ ^! 

borne by the water 
larger, taller and in 

o'o' 

solid, thus: /[_ ; that borne by the air 



o'o /; that 

elementals or Undines is 
double outline instead of 



elementals or Sylphs is very tall and slender 



with wavy double outlines, thus : 



while that 



borne by the fire elementals or Salamanders, as seen 
in a flame, is composed of many vibrating ethereal 
lines having a curl or hook at the bottom thus: 



It must be understood that just as Man's 




The Number 6 — (Continued) 205 

body suggests the 5 pointed star and hence number 5, 
so do the bodies of the nature sprites suggest the 
number 6; for number 6 dominates them and their 
structure, even more completely than number 5 domi- 
nates man in his 5 extremities, 5 fingers, 5 toes, 5 
senses, etc. Also, if we take the product of these 4 
kingdoms of nature we still have 6, thus, 4X6=24=6. 

This is another proof that 6 is the Number of Na- 
ture, for it is through the activities of the elementals 
of those 4 great kingdoms that The Christ-force is 
evolving nature toward perfection. It is this inces- 
sant activity, labor and change of form that connects 
number 6 with suffering and woe such as befell at the 
opening of the 6th Seal of the Book of Life, 1 also at 
the sounding of the 6th Angel, 2 the pouring out of the 
6th Vial 3 and the 6 periods of war with the Beast. 

The geometrical symbol of number 6 is the inter- 
laced triangles or the 6 pointed star Y X > called 

by the Hindus the Sign of Vishnu, and by the He- 
brews the Shield of David, often mis-called the Seal 
of Solomon. Among the Egyptians it was the sym- 
bol of generation, the union of fire and water, the male 
and female. Among the Pythagoreans it was called 
the Hexad or "the perfection of parts," and with them 
was also a symbol of creation. The Neo-Pythagorean 
philosopher Nichomachus called it "the form of forms, 
the only number adapted to the Soul, the distinct 
union of the parts of the Universe, the fabricator of 
the Soul, and also Harmony." The interlaced trian- 
gles symbolize the triune God reflected by His crea- 
tions, or God in man and nature. "The trinity of 
nature is the lock, the trinity of man is the key that 
fits it." 4 It also symbolizes the 6 Creative Groups, 
the 6 powers of nature, the 6 planes of consciousness 

1 Revelation, vi, 12. 8 Revelation, xvi, 12. 

3 Revelation, ix, 13. * Isis Unveiled, Blavatsky, II, 635. 



206 The Key to the Universe 

and of evolution, and the 6 Principles of man, all of 
which are synthesized in a 7th. 

Since man is a microcosm, the interlaced triangles 
or number 6 must ever manifest in him. The Kabal- 
ists call it the Supreme Triangle and its reflection. 
The Supreme Triangle they said was composed of 
Necessity, Liberty and Reason, referring Reason to 
Kether, Necessity to Chockmah and Liberty to Binah. 
The triangle reflected in man they designated Fatality, 
Will and Power. "Fatality is the inevitable sequence 
of effects and causes in a determined order. Will is 
the directing faculty of intelligent forces for the con- 
ciliation of the liberty of persons with the necessity of 
things. Power is the wise application of will which 
enlists fatality itself in the accomplishment of the de- 
sires of the sage." 5 

The A pointing upward symbolizes Siva, fire, light 
and heavenly powers, also the Divine Trinity or upper 
triad in man, ever evolving upward after its incarna- 
tion in matter, seeking more perfect expression; the 
source of aspiration in man. The 2 lines of force, 
Law and Will, descending from the focus above 
(apex) and spreading out to include the base line, 
indicate that man is overshadowed by and included 
within the Divine, also that he can receive the positive 
and negative forces from above and correlate (unite) 
them on the physical plane or base line. The upward- 
pointing triangle also symbolizes the stability and poise 
which man can attain when he looks to the Divine 
Trinity within. 

The downward-pointing triangle V ^ s dark, sym- 
bolizing the waters of Chaos in which the Divine Germ 
(Vishnu and the hosts of the lower worlds) is laid, 
also the instability of man's lower nature, "unstable 
as water." This triangle symbolizes that the 2 ascend- 
ing lines of force can ascend from their focus (apex) 

• Transcendental Magic, Levi, 69. 



The Number 6 — (Continued) 207 

on earth and reach up to and embrace the Divine. The 
interlaced triangles therefore symbolize the reflection 
of the Divine completed and man assuming his respon- 
sibility. For only by the perfect blending and balanc- 
ing of the 2 natures, human and Divine, can man at- 
tain Wisdom and Perfection. In other words, man 
can attain Wisdom only as he can correlate his con- 
sciousness with both the realm of the Divine and with 
the realm of nature, whose symbol is 6. 

According to the Kabalah the 1st trinity is called the 
Macroprosopus and the 2nd trinity, making up the 6, 
the Microprosopus, the 2 constituting the Vast and 
the Lesser Countenances. The Macroprosopus is all 
brilliancy and dazzling light, while the Microprosopus 
or lesser countenance shines only by reflected light. 
Thus must the 2 triangles, the Light and its reflection, 
be interlaced to form the 6 pointed star, the symbol of 
the macrocosm. The 6 days of creation correspond to 
the 6 forms of the Microprosopus. The 6th Sephira 
is called Tipherath, beauty or mildness, the divine name 
Eloah Va-Daath, and the angelic names Shinanim and 
Melakim. This 6th Sephira completes the 2 trinities; 
the 1st, the divine Father-Mother-Son, the 2nd, Power- 
Greatness-Fortitude, also Strength-Beauty-Clemency. 
Being the reflection of the Godhead on earth, these are 
magic forces which manifest through the interlaced 
triangles. In short, the Divine Reality back of this 
mighty symbol is that when the God attributes are not 
only reflected but interlaced and balanced in man's 
life, he becomes a mighty magician and all the forces 
within himself and nature must obey him. While this 
symbol has a certain power in itself, its full potency 
is manifested only when its dual forces are inter- 
blended and used to bring forth The Christ-man in the 
life. 

The early Christian church gave a somewhat dif- 



208 The Key to the Universe 



ferent meaning to the Y Y . God, considered as 

the Father, has Nature for His daughter; considered 
as Son, has the Virgin for His mother and the Church 
for His Bride; considered as the Mother or Holy 
Ghost He regenerates and redeems humanity. These 
attributes are assigned to the various points as follows : 




By some authors 6 is called the number of "co- 
operation, marriage, reciprocal action, counterpoise, 
psychology, divination, telepathy, psychometry and 
alchemy," all of which are based upon its primary 
significance as the Number of The Christ-force, the 
informing principle of the Soul, pushing through na- 
ture and man to perfection in number 7, Super-man. 

The Druids held the number 6 in deep reverence and 
many of their sacred ceremonies were based upon it. 
They began their year upon the 6th day of the full 
moon, and the 6 days within the full moon — 3 before 
and 3 after — were held especially sacred. Also when 
the sacred mistletoe was cut 6 priests performed the 
ceremony. 

An astronomical period of 600 years was held in 
reverence and is often referred to in the Mysteries. It 
consisted of 31 periods of 19 years each and 1 period 
of 11 years. This cycle was known to the ancient 
Chaldeans, who declared it the most perfect of all 
astronomical periods. For instance, it was held that 
if on a certain day at high noon a new moon appeared 



The Number 6 — (Continued) 209 

at a designated place in the heavens, it would appear 
again at the expiration of 600 years in precisely the 
same place and relations, with all the planets in the 
same positions. 

The Egyptians, like the Druids, had 6 High Priests, 
and a certain Aseshra is mentioned as the "Mother of 
the Mysterious Words of 6." Also a statue of Ei-meri 
has been found on which is carved the title, "Chief of 
the Dwelling of the Great 6." 

Among the ancient Semites on Saturn's day (Sat- 
urday) 6 priests clothed in black ministered to the god 
Saturn in a 6 sided temple, the walls of which were 
hung with black. By some Saturn is considered as 
sinister, but the above incident only proves that the 
priests had a deep understanding of the esoteric posi- 
tion of Saturn as the Great Initiator. For esoterically 
black symbolizes that which is unmanifested and not, 
as vulgarly supposed — because Saturn was farthest 
from the sun — that which is cold, dark, evil and the 
bringer of malign influences. Saturn as Lucifer is the 
Unmanifested falling from heaven into manifestation, 
but the Star of the Morning as he rises, through per- 
fected and tested evolution, to his heavenly home. 
Saturn is therefore often referred to as the hidden god 
with 2 faces, 1 white and 1 black. 

Number 6 is magically related to the circumference 
of the circle, which contains 6X60 degrees, each con- 
taining 60 minutes of 60 seconds each. 

Let number 6 remind you of the upspringing power 
of nature; of the universal Urge Toward Perfection 
which is inherent in the soul of all things; of the 
power of The Christ-force working in you toward 
more and more perfect expression through you. Let 
it ever remind you that the divine Trinity is reflected 

within you £A , but that the lower triangle must 



210 The Key to the Universe 

be lifted up until it balances the upper and forms the 
X^A » your life interlaced with the Divine. Also that 

by the power of The Christ within you must unfold 
the 6 sided cube and balance the cross. 



CHAPTER 23 

THE 6TH LETTER, Vail ( \ ). 

"He produced Vau, predominant in mind, 
crowned it, combined and formed it with Taurus 
in the Universe, Aiar (May) in the year, and 
the right kidney of man." 

— Sepher Yetzirah, 24. 

The 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Vau (V). 
It is a simple letter connected with Taurus, and its 
meaning is an "eye." At 1st glance it is hard to connect 
this meaning with the zodiacal sign Taurus, yet a little 
thought will reveal a wonderful significance ; for it is 
the star Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, which not only 
is the leader of this constellation, but which gives to it 
its great brilliancy. Taurus is composed of 2 brilliant 
constellations of 7 stars each — the Pleiades, which are 
ruled over by the 7 Rishis, and the Hyades, called the 
sisters or feminine aspect of these 7 great expressions 
of elohistic force, the Rishis. The Hyades form the 
head and neck of the Bull, which the Grecian myth 
says bore Europa across the seas to Crete, and was 
afterwards raised to the heavens by Jupiter as the sign 
Taurus. Another myth is that these constellations 
were raised to the heavens as a reward for having 
brought up Zeus at Dodora and taken care of the in- 
fant Dionysos Hyas. Aldebaran, the eye of the Bull, 
is a Star of a brilliant reddish color, with a magnitude 
of Yz , and is the principal object of the group. But 
its true occult significance is that when this star is in 
conjunction with the Sun it is from that point of the 
ecliptic that the calculations of new cycles are com- 
puted. 



212 The Key to the Universe 

A similarity will at once be noticed between the 1st 
mother letter Aleph (ox) and Vau, which is also re- 
lated to Taurus. The difference is that Aleph relates 
to the sign in its creative aspect, while Vau is the 
manifestation of its force upon the earth. 

In St. Matthew (vi, 22) we read: "The light of the 
body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy 
whole body is full of light." As above so below. 
When the eye of man is in conjunction with the Sun 
of Righteousness, or is looking to thi4: source of Light 
alone with singleness of purpose, from that point we 
can calculate a new era in his life; for he has com- 
pleted his cycle of darkness. 

Again, Taurus is an earthy, fixed sign and is looked 
upon as unfortunate. Its children are plodders, are 
often poor and find life full of vicissitudes and sorrows, 
brought about, however, largely from their own want 
of poise and balance. And it is in just such earthly 
conditions that we must learn to fix our eye upon the 
Sun, if we wish to reach into a new cycle or new 
condition. The eye is often spoken of as the window 
of the Soul, and in Taurus the Soul may be said to 
be shut in a dark dungeon. But in this dungeon there 
is a window facing the East through which the eye 
can see the rising Sun, whose beams shall fill the dun- 
geon with Light. Hence the eye represents the force 
of the Soul struggling in its prison house of flesh to 
penetrate through the mists and find the Light, just 
as number 6 is The Ghrist-principle struggling in mat- 
ter, but always upward towards the Light. 

In Vau we also have another symbol, that of a "link" 
between the human and the Divine, just as the neck 
in the body connects the head with the trunk in which 
is located the heart. 

The 6 is called the hexad, from the Greek word hex, 
meaning 6, the Latin of which is sex. Hence sex or 



The 6th Letter, Vau 213 

number 6, The Christ Principle, must be considered as 
manifesting through the 2 expressions of sex in hu- 
manity, man and woman. Sex or 6 expresses a defi- 
nite cycle of experience through which all creation 
either has or will pass, but through which man and 
woman are passing today. Therefore the letter Vau 
(or Vav as it is sometimes written, u and v being 
synonymous) must be considered in reference to man 
and woman, Vau being the link that unites the 2. In 
the newly born infant it is the umbilical cord which 
unites it to its mother, and over which the life-force is 
carried to it, but between man and woman it is the far 
more sacred line of magnetic and spiritual love-force 
(life) which alone is the link capable of uniting the 2 
in true marriage. 



THE 6th TAROT CARD 

THE LOVERS 




MEDIEVAL 





EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



The 6th Tarot Card, The Lovers 215 

the 6th tarot card, The Lovers. 

In the 6th card of the Tarot we have the idea of 
Vau as a link strongly brought out. This card is 
called "The Lovers," and pictures a young man stand- 
ing motionless at a point where 2 roads meet, the 
"Two Paths," the straight and narrow path which 
leads to life everlasting, and the broad highway lead- 
ing to the City of Destruction. His arms are crossed 
upon his breast in an attitude of deliberation, for the 
hands always indicate ability to accomplish, hence they 
are crossed on the breast when work is done. The 
hands are thus crossed in moments of idleness, after 
accomplishment or in death. Before him stand 2 
women, each with a hand upon his shoulder, while 
with the other hand each is pointing to 1 of the Paths. 
The woman on his right has a circlet of gold upon her 
head. She is true Love, pointing him to the Path of 
Duty which winds up hill all the way. The woman 
on his left is disheveled and crowned with vine leaves. 
She points him to the Path of Pleasure and dissipation. 
These 2 figures represent Virtue and Vice, or the angel 
messenger of Love to link him to the Divine and the 
messenger of evil, the link which will bind him to the 
seduction of the senses. Above their heads floats a 
radiant figure surrounded by the rays of the Sun, in 
whose hand is a bow and arrow drawn ready to strike. 

This card is a true symbol of the sign Taurus, for at 
this point the Soul must meet all the seductions of the 
senses, which are ruled by Venus, the dual Planet. It 
also contains the figure of Justice with his bow and 
arrow pointed at Vice. This figure represents the 
star Aldebaran in conjunction with the sun, also the 
number 6 and The Christ-force, which will send out 
its arrows against vice and will utterly destroy all evil, 
even as the rays of the sun shoot out their arrows of 



216 The Key to the Universe 

light and destroy all germs of disease. Suffering is 
inevitably linked to vice, for "the wages of sin is 
death ; but the gift of God is eternal life." 1 It is not 
the difficult climb up the mountain path that brings 
death, but the wages you have earned. We must stop 
earning death and allow the gift of eternal life to 
manifest. Hence if the young man chooses the Path 
of Vice, he links himself to death, which is his only 
savior, for at each death of the body we are saved from 
committing further sins and reaping further suffering. 
We begin to die the moment we turn away from Di- 
vine Love, and only when death has done its work can 
we, through the power of The Christ-force, be resur- 
rected from the grave of matter and live forevermore. 
If the young man chooses the Path of Virtue The 
Christ will work with him and the arrows of Justice 
will prove to be shafts of fiery life pushing all that is 
in him upward into life eternal. 

The symbol of Vau is love, and only love is the light 
of the eye. How dull an eye through which selfish- 
ness looks, but how bright and clear when love shines 
from it. Love is the only link that can unite us to the 
Divine. Human love, however, must be a golden link, 
and the 1 we love must be crowned with the gold of 
spiritual ideals, for if we substitute lust for love we 
find a link of heavy iron, chaining us to something 
loathsome, chafing our flesh, hampering our move- 
ments ; a link indeed, but a link with death. 

THE 6TH COMMANDMENT. 

"Thou shalt not kill." 

— Exodus, xx, 13. 

The 6th Commandment, altho short and definite, 
nevertheless derives its esoteric significance from the 
meaning of the number 6, The Christ- force fighting its 
way through the limitations of matter into more and 

1 Romans, vi, 23. 



The 6th Commandment 217 

more perfect manifestations. Since the 1 Life which 
animates all forms of life is immortal, the only thing 
we can kill is the form of manifestation of the Divine 
Spark, whether in humanity or in the lower kingdoms. 
As we have said elsewhere: "The only sense in which 
man can kill is to separate any form of life from this 
stream of the One Life-force, or to dam it up or refuse 
to permit it to manifest." 2 Therefore, anything that 
we may do to retard the manifestation of The Christ- 
force in humanity or in the world is killing in its true 
sense. The thing we are really killing or retarding, 
however, is our own manifestation, our own evolution. 
This is killing in the sense of separating our life from 
the 1 Life and pushing ourselves back into the dark- 
ness of ignorance, selfishness and personality. Death 
is separation from God or the Divine Life-principle, 
and our ignorance consists in the belief or delusion 
that we can stop the 1 Life from unfolding within 
another, and at the same time not retard its mani- 
festation in ourselves. 

Every evolving Soul passes through many deaths 
in many conditions, yet by the power of The Christ, 
and with The Christ, he must ultimately triumph over 
death and no longer either cause or suffer death. It 
is said that the last victory is over death and the grave, 
i. e., we conquer by learning that every thought of 
antagonism toward another is helping to retard the 
manifestation of Divine Love and Life which is seek- 
ing expression through that 1. And since we can only 
strike or injure another through ourselves, by so doing 
we are bringing desolation and death into our own 
auras. Every jealousy, every desire to belittle the 
work of another, especially if the proper performance 
of that work will contribute to the betterment of hu- 
manity; every word of reproach or slander which 
helps to blast the reputation and kill the usefulness of 

3 V. of I., Chapter xxxii. 



218 The Key to the Universe 

a fellow mortal, discourage him in his efforts to con- 
quer, and make him fail, are all so many germs of 
death to us which will retard or prevent the manifes- 
tation of the Divine through us. For as we harbor 
rivalry, jealousy, envy, hatred, etc., we kill out our 
finer feelings and perceptions, our sympathy and lov- 
ing tolerance and kindness, and thus sow the seeds of 
death within our own lives. Therefore, though the 
forms through which we express our life may die 
many times, yet through the power of The Christ we 
shall live again and again until we conquer death and 
the grave, and with this last enemy conquered we, 
together with all the redeemed of mankind, shall live 
forever more. 

The Command that number 6 brings us, therefore, 
is that we are to recognize the Divine in all things, 
both animate and inanimate, so-called; that we are 
consciously to work with The Christ ; that we are not 
to kill, deaden or even blind the eyes of the world to 
its workings, but strive to live in The Christ forever 
more, knowing that only as The Christ lives and mani- 
fests in us can we live and manifest our Divine Selves. 
Only by recognizing The Christ in the 1 Life shall we 
be made alive in Christ. Thus shall we obey the 
Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." 



CHAPTER 24 

THE NUMBER 7. 

The Mystery of Creation. 

"Number 7 is the festival day of all the 
earth, the birthday of the world. I know not 
whether anyone would be able to celebrate the 
number 7 in adequate terms." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 438. 

"By these Seven letters were also made seven 
worlds, seven heavens, seven earths, seven seas, 
seven rivers, seven deserts, seven days, seven 
weeks from Passover to Pentecost, and every sev- 
enth year a Jubilee." 

— Sepher Yetsirah, 22. 

The number 7 is the most sacred of all numbers, 
and for several reasons is so considered in all theogo- 
nies. ist, because it relates to the mystery of the 
manifestation of the Godhead, the Mystery of Crea- 
tion; 2nd, because number 7 governs the equally divine 
Mystery of Gestation, and 3rd, because it is the Num- 
ber of Perfection. 

All the ancient mystery teachings agree that the 
Divine brought forth the manifested universe through 
a Deity having a 7 fold aspect, called in the Christian 
scriptures the 7 Elohim, the "Sons of God" spoken of 
by Job. 1 The Elohim are the spiritual progenitors of 
the 7 great Creative Rays or Hierarchies which con- 
stitute the manifested aspect of the Godhead, and 
which are focused or embodied in the Rulers or Dei- 
ties of the 7 sacred planets. It was these 7 manifes- 
tations of the 1 God who said: "Let there be light," 
and the white Light, which resulted from the perfect 

l Job, 1, 6. 



220 The Key to the Universe 

blending of the 7 color rays, 2 brought the earth and the 
universe into manifestation. 

As we have said elsewhere: "At the first rebirth of 
our earth — for the law of cyclic rebirth applies to 
planets and systems as well as to men — it was brought 
into manifestation or 'created' by a ray of pure white 
light from the Absolute penetrating the chaotic debris 
of previous world-periods. As a ray of light in pass- 
ing through a prism is separated into seven color-rays, 
so this Ray of Spiritual Light in passing through the 
prism of manifestation was separated into seven great 
differentiations or color-rays called Hierarchies." 3 

The Hebrew word used in Genesis and crudely 
translated "God" is not only plural, being the plural 
form of El-h, but many later references to creation 
also refer to this same "God" in the plural, showing 
plainly that the 7 fold nature of the Godhead was 
clearly understood by the writers of the various books 
of the Bible. For instance, "Let us make man in our 
image, after our likeness. * * * And the Lord 
God said., Behold the man is become as one of us," 
etc. 4 



"The Elohim are seven in number, whether as 
nature-powers, gods of constellations, or planetary 
gods, * * * as the Pitris and Patriarchs, Manus 
and Fathers of earlier times. The Gnostics, how- 
ever, and the Jewish Kabalah preserve an account 
of the Elohim of Genesis by which we are able to 
identify them with other forms of the seven pri- 
mordial powers. * * * Their names are Ildabaoth, 
Jehovah (or Jao), Sabaoth, Adonai, Eloeus, 
Oreus, and Astanpheus. Ildabaoth signifies the 
Lord God of the fathers, that is the fathers who 
preceded the Father; and thus the seven are 
identical with the seven Pitris or Fathers of India 
(Ireneus, B. I., xx, 5). Moreover, the Hebrew 
Elohim were preexistent by name and nature as 
Phoenician divinities or powers. * * * In the 
Phoenician mythology the Elohim are the seven 



a The simple experiment in physics proves that if the 7 colors are 
placed on a disc and rapidly revolved they will blend into white. 
8 V. of I., 179. 
* Genesis, i, 26; iii, 22. 



The Number 7 221 

sons of Sydik (Melchizedek), identical with the 
Seven Kabiri, who in Egypt are the Seven sons 
of Ptah, and the Seven Spirits of Ra in The 
Book of the Dead. * * * They are the leading 
stars of seven constellations which turned round 
the Great Bear in describing the circle of the year. 
These the Assyrians called the seven Lumazi, or 
leaders of the flocks of stars, designated as 
sheep * * * The Elohim, then, are the Egyptian, 
Akkadian, Hebrew and Phoenician form of the 
universal Seven Powers, who are Seven in Egypt, 
Seven in Akkad, Babylon, Persia, India, Britain, 
and Seven among the Gnostics and Kabalists." s 

The 7 great Creative Rays or Beings are called in 
the Christian scriptures, "the sons of God * * * the 
seven Spirits of God * * * the seven angels 
which stood before God * * * the seven Spirits 
which are before his throne * * * the seven 
Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth * * * 
the angels of the seven churches" 6 etc. By the early 
church Fathers these Angels are spoken of as the 
Spiritual Beings who have direct charge of the creation 
and evolution of this planet and its inhabitants and 
were regarded as the Agents of God and the Guard- 
ians and Regents over the 7 divisions of the earth and 
mankind. St. Denys, the Areopagite, St. Thomas 
Aquinas and others all express these same ideas. 

"We meet with those seven in Egypt — also in 
the Babylonian legend of Creation, as the Seven 
Brethren, who were Seven Kings, like the Seven 
Kings in the Book of Revelation ; and the Seven 
Non-Sentient Powers, who became the Seven 
Rebel Angels that made war in heaven. The 
Seven Kronidae, described as Seven Watchers 
* * * their work of creation being identical with 
that of the Elohim of the Book of Genesis."'' 

Since number 7 is the symbol which refers to these 
creative Hierarchies, something of their potency and 
power inheres mystically in it. And since this number 

5 S. D., Ill, 194-S-6. 

• Job. i, 6; Revelation, iii, viii, 2; i, 4; v, 6; i, 20. 

7 S. D., Ill, 193. 



222 The Key to the Universe 

has been and still is connected with Deity in the 
thoughts of many Races of mankind throughout the 
ages, a great power and force has thus been generated 
and attached to it. 

Among the various nations these 7 Creative Forces 
of the Cosmos have been identified with the Rulers 
of the 7 sacred planets — Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, 
Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Among the Kabalists 
the symbols for these 7 Planetary Spirits are as fol- 
lows : the Sun, a serpent with the head of a lion ; 
the Moon, a globe divided by 2 crescents; Mars, a 
dragon biting the hilt of a sword ; Mercury, a caduceus 
and the Cynocephalus ; Venus, a lingam ; Jupiter, a 
blazing pentagram in the beak of an eagle; Saturn, a 
lone and aged man, or a serpent coiled around a sun- 
stone. 

Michael (the Sun) was called the Angel of Light; 
Gabriel (the Moon) the angel of Dreams and aspira- 
tions; Samael (Venus) the Angel of Love; Anael 
(Mercury) the angel of Progress; Raphael (Mars) 
the Angel of Destruction; Zachariel (Jupiter) the 
Angel of Power; Orifiel (Saturn) the Angel of the 
Wilderness. 

The 7 virtues and the 7 deadly sins were also asso- 
ciated with the planets as follows : Faith, which in the 
weak degenerates into Pride, is associated with the 
Sun ; Hope and Avarice with the Moon ; Charity 
(Love) and Luxury with Venus; Strength and Wrath 
with Mars; Prudence and Idleness with Mercury; 
Temperance and Gluttony with Saturn; Justice and 
Envy with Jupiter. 

Spiritually the 7 sacred planets constitute the 7 
sacred centers in the body of the Grand or Heavenly 
Man, all receiving their life-force from His heart, 
just as physically they receive their life-force from the 
sun and send it forth again tinged with something of 



The Number J 223 

their own color and characteristic vibrations. Since 
man is the microcosm of the macrocosm he also has 
7 physical, 7 astral and 7 psychic centers within his 
body, in each of which is focused the force of the 
planet to which it corresponds. These are the 7 Por- 
tals, having 7 golden keys, referred to in The Voice 
of the Silence* which man must guard and learn to 
open and close at will. "These centers, each with its 
7 subsidiary centers, are sometimes called the '49 
crucified saviors,' signifying that the vital power of 
these centers is at present misused and crucified, and 
ere they can become man's Saviors they must be resur- 
rected from the tomb of matter and made to function 
in a higher state. They are called the '49 fires' because 
their light guides man to Superman." 9 

In the realm of other physical expressions we again 
find number 7 ruling Creation and Manifestation. The 
1 white light splits up into the 7 colors of the solar 
spectrum— -violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange 
and red — the colors of the rainbow, from which all 
other colors are produced. Since each manifesting 
vibration has its sound as well as its color, we natu- 
rally find that the musical scale is composed of 7 
notes — do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, the next do completing 
the octave and beginning a new. From this scale the 
ancient philosophers constructed a ladder of relative 
planetary sounds upon which they based their "music 
of the spheres." This scale was made up of the 7 
true nature-notes which composed the sacred Word by 
which all creation was called into manifestation, and 
are not the notes of the modern musical scale, which 
it is well known do not give the mathematically correct 
number of vibrations, but are slightly modified to suit 
modern methods. 

From the proportions existing between the vowel 
sounds assigned to the planets, the distances between 

8 Fragment, III. » V. of I., 165. 



la re 


do 


sol 
Blue 


fa 


idigo Orange 


Red 


or 


Green 



224 The Key to the Universe 

the planets were estimated so accurately by the ancients 
that they approximate very closely to the figures 
claimed as a result of the use of the most scientific 
instruments by modern astronomers. The scale of 
planetary notes and colors as given in The Secret 
Doctrine is as follows : 

Planets, Moon Mercury Venus Sun Mars Jupiter Saturn 

Vowels, a e ee i o u oo 

Notes, si mi 

Colors, Violet Yellow 

Purple 

"The best * * * Psychics, as shown by Galton, 
can also perceive colors produced by the vibra- 
tions of musical instruments, every note suggest- 
ing a different color. As a string vibrates and 
gives forth an audible note, so the nerves of the 
human body vibrate and thrill in correspondence 
with the various emotions under the general 
impulse of the circulating vitality of Prana, thus 
producing undulations in the psychic Aura of the 
person which results in chromatic effects. 

"The human nervous system as a whole, then, 
may be regarded as an yEolian Harp, responding 
to the impact of the vital force." 10 

Perception is located in the aura of the Pineal 
Gland. During the process of thought there is a con- 
stant vibration in the light of the aura, and those who 
can use the inner sight can plainly see the 7 colors in 
that aura, each color shading from darkest to lightest. 

The scale of true nature-notes was well known to the 
priesthood of many ancient peoples and was used in 
their sacred chants and mantra, especially during the 
ceremonies of Initiation. Among the Hindus this scale 
was expressed on a peculiar instrument called the 
vina which is used to accompany the chanting of their 
sacred hymns and mantra. This instrument is made 

10 S. D„ III, 509. 



The Number 7 225 

of a bamboo rod having attached at each end a 
large hollow gourd, which acts as a sounding board. 
On the front of the rod 5 strings are strung side by 
side, with an additional string on either side of the 
rod below the level of the others, thus making 7 in 
all. The vina is probably the most ancient musical 
instrument known to man, having been given to him, 
so the legend tells us, by Brahma himself. Altho there 
are more than 2000 airs for the vina — each 1 said 
to have its special effect upon diseases, obsessions, 
insanity, elementals, etc. — it is said none have ever 
been written down, but are handed on by ear from 
father to son or teacher to pupil. We will repeat 
(from memory) the legend of the vina as told us by 
Mme. Desai, a dainty little Hindu lady who is said to 
be the only woman player of the vina in the world. 
After Brahma had created the world and its inhabi- 
tants, his daughter Sarasavati complained 1 day that 
he had given man nothing to relieve his toil, the 
monotony of his existence nor his sorrows and suffer- 
ing. Brahma recognized the justice of her complaint 
and told her to devise some plan for the amelioration 
of man's lot. She therefore took a bamboo rod and 
strung strings upon it which would repeat the vibra- 
tions of love and harmony of the 7 nature-notes with 
■which her father had created the universe. And the 
instrument thus fashioned and given to mankind was 
the vina. 

We find a similar idea expressed in the Greek legend 
of the 7 stringed lyre given to Orpheus by Apollo his 
father, Apollo being the god of the sun or of spiritual 
Light, and the lyre representing the 7 creative nature- 
notes or the 7 color-rays emanating from the 7 planets, 
while Orpheus typified the animating principle or The 
Christ-force which alone can draw divine harmony 
from the forces of Nature, 



226 The Key to the Universe 

This is "the hidden meaning of Apollo's Hepta- 
chord, the lyre of the radiant god, in each of 
the seven strings of which dwelleth the Spirit, 
Soul and Astral Body of the Kosmos, whose shell 
only has now fallen into the hands of Modern 
Science." u 

These notes represent lines of force emanating from 
the sun, 1 of which is picked out, focused and concen- 
trated by each of the 7 planets and again sent forth. 
It is because of these rays of force, acting upon the 7 
sacred centers in man which correspond to the planets, 
that the planetary forces affect man. Hence man can 
sweep the strings of his golden harp in harmony, only 
as he correlates with the sun- force (The Christ) within, 
and can listen, understand and respond, to the 7 mystic 
notes only as he builds into his life the planetary forces 
and rules them. This same idea is the foundation of 
the Christian allegory of a heaven in which the saints 
stand before the throne {i.e., the sun) and play on 
harps of gold and chant the song of the Lamb which 
was slain. The Lamb is none other than the Ram of 
Aries slain that the cosmic blood or life-force of its 
ruler, Mars, might be poured out to manifest as the 
vitalizing, pushing, overcoming power by which the 
sprout of The Christ-seed 12 in every heart shall put 
forth in spite of all obstacles, and ultimately bring to 
bloom the Rose of Divine Love whose perfume is 
immortality. Hence the song of the Lamb is the 
great pean of mastery of the forces sent out by the 
septenary sun to the planets and reflected in man. It 
is sung by those who have mastered and been redeemed 
and not by those who have merely passed out of incar- 
nation. 

While the music of Apollo's lyre is man's response 
to the 7 planetary forces, the pipes of Pan represent 
the response of nature to these same forces. This is 

11 5. D., I, 190. u See lesson The Christ Seed. 



The Number 7 227 

beautifully illustrated by the story of the contest 
between Apollo and Pan before the mountain god 
Tmolus who was chosen umpire. "The senior took 
his seat and cleared away the trees from his ears to 
listen. At a given signal Pan blew on his pipes, and 
with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to him- 
self and his faithful follower King Midas, who hap- 
pened to be present. Then Tmolus turned his head 
toward the Sun-god and all his trees turned with him. 
Apollo rose ; his brow wreathed with Parnassian laurel, 
while his robe of Tyrian purple swept the ground. In 
his left hand he held the lyre and with his right hand 
struck the strings. Ravished with the harmony, 
Tmolus at once awarded the victory to the god of 
the lyre, and all but Midas acquiesced in the judg- 
ment. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair 
of ears any longer to wear the human form, but 
caused them to increase in length, grow hairy, within 
and without, and movable on their roots ; in short, 
to become the perfect pattern of those of an ass." 13 
This settles the question so often brought up by those 
who retire from human habitations to become hermits 
in an effort to attain peace and conquer temptation. 
To them the harmony of The Christ-force manifesting 
in the lower kingdoms and interpreted through the 
nature-tones of Pan, seems all that is necessary to lift 
them to godhood. But let them mingle with their 
fellow men, with the right attitude of mind, and listen 
while Apollo sweeps the heart strings of humanity and 
they will soon acknowledge the supremacy of the 
higher manifestation, or will grow asses' ears. In other 
words those who exclude themselves from human 
society inevitably tend to degenerate into animalism. 
For even at the creation of man there was found no 
help meet for him ; no animal was found worthy to be 
his companion save 1 created after his own kind. 

1S The Age of Fable, Bulfinch-Klapp, 60. 



228 The Key to the Universe 

Number 7 was also sacred to Gio, the Muse of epic 
poetry and history (which formerly were recited 
instead of written), because associated with the voice 
and sound, as it was through the spoken Word that 
the universe was brought into manifestation. There 
are 7 tones to the human voice, each of which correl- 
ates with 1 of the 7 creative tones and hence must be 
harmonized with the music of the spheres. To an 
Adept the tones of the voice reveal the stage of a 
person's spiritual unfoldment. These examples should 
be sufficient to show that number 7 governs the Law 
of Creation, in man, nature and the Cosmos. 



CHAPTER 25 

the number 7 — (Continued). 
The Number of Manifestation and Gestation. 

"Seven high mountains I beheld, higher than 
all the mountains of the earth * * * seven rivers 
* * * seven great islands I saw in the sea and on 
the earth. Seven in the great sea * * * when the 
moon rises, it appears in heaven; and the half of 
a seventh portion of the light is all which is in it." 
— Book of Enoch, Chapter lxxvii, 6, 7; Ixxvii, 5. 

In the study of cosmic evolution, not only do we find 
7 sacred planets in our system, but each of these 
planets has a 7 fold manifestation. As is concisely 
expressed elsewhere : "Each visible planet is but the 
lowest, densest aspect of a seven-fold chain, called by 
occultists a 'World Chain.' A World Chain is com- 
posed of seven globes of differing states of matter and 
consciousness, all existing at the same time and all 
interpenetrating. The globes of any one chain must 
not be identified with the visible planets, for only one 
globe of each Chain is visible, each physically visible 
planet being the physical globe of its own Chain, just 
as the Earth is the physical globe of the Earth Chain. 
The other six globes of each Chain are composed of 
finer and more ethereal states of matter to which our 
physical senses do not respond. They are invisible 
and hence to us apparently do not exist. 

"In its descent (involution) into physical manifesta- 
tion life appears successively on each of the seven 
globes during one day-period called a Round, seven 
such day-periods or Rounds being required to complete 
the cycle of manifestation (involution — turning point 



230 The Key to the Universe 

— evolution). 'Our Earth, as the (now) visible repre- 
sentative of its superior fellow-globes * * * has to live, 
as have the others, through seven Rounds.' * * * These 
arcane teachings, preserved in their purity upon imper- 
ishable records through all ages, tell us that during 
each Day-period or Round seven Great Races follow 
each other successively, each being made up of seven 
sub-races, which in turn are composed of many tribes, 
kingdoms and nations. These Races and sub-races do 
not begin suddenly nor end abruptly to make way for 
the next, but overlap for untold ages ere the old gives 
way to the new. For example : 'The majority of man- 
kind belongs to the seventh sub-race of the Fourth 
Root Race.' * * * altho humanity is already enter- 
ing the sixth sub-race of the Fifth Great Race of the 
Fourth Round." l The 1st Great Race of this Round 
was the Polar, the 2nd the Hyperborean, the 3rd the 
Lemurian, the 4th the Atlantean, and the 5th is our 
present Aryan Race. 

"The Great Law manifests in seven major aspects, 2 
one of which is the main lesson to be worked out on 
each planetary chain, while all the others are repre- 
sented as secondary factors. Thus, while the earth 
chain is working out The Law of Polarity as its main 
lesson, still this can only be learned by a blending of 
all the other aspects as subsidiary lessons, just as each 
of the seven colors of the spectrum, while manifesting 
its own dominant ray, still contains within it an 
expression of all the other rays." 3 "No one aspect 
manifests alone, but while each may predominate in 
turn all the others manifest at the same time as subor- 
dinate factors." 4 

Not only is number 7 the Law of Manifestation in 
the Races of mankind, but also in man himself. For, 
like the planet and the Race, man is a 7 fold being 
composed like number 7, of the 3 and the 4, the A 

1 V. of I., 206, 229-30. 

1 As (1) Order, (2) Compensation, (3) Cause and Effect or Karma, 
(4) Vibration, (5) Balance, (6) Cycles, (7) Polarity or Opposites. 
3 See lesson The Ancient of Days. 
* V. of I.. 193. 



The Number 7 — (Continued) 231 

and the □. His physical body is the most dense and 
physical instrument through which the Soul, the Real 
Man, manifests. This physical body is but the outer 
covering of, and is built upon, a body composed of 
finer and more ethereal matter, the astral body, through 
which the body of desires (Kama Rupa) functions. 
The mental body (lozver Manas) completes the □ of 
the 4 fold vehicle through which the Soul, composed of 
the A of the 3 higher principles — Divine Mind 
(Higher Manas); The Christ-Consciousness (Buddhi) 
and the Ray (Atma) from the Absolute — functions in 
the worlds of manifestation. 5 According to The Secret 
Doctrine 9 man has 7 states of consciousness — atmic, 
buddhic, higher manasic, lower manasic, astral, desire 
and animal or instinctive. He also has 7 kinds of per- 
ception, i. e., physical, sense-perception, self-perception, 
psychic, vital, will and spiritual perception. 

Man's physical body is 7 fold in its construction. 
There are 7 natural divisions of the body : head, thorax 
(chest), abdomen, 2 arms and 2 legs. The human 
embryo has 7 parts : the fetus, amnion, amniotic fluid, 
chorion, allantois, decidua and umbilical vesicle. There 
are 7 great tissue systems composing his body : epithel- 
ial, connective, muscular, nervous and the blood, 
lymph and reproductive fluids. Of connective tissue 
there are 7 kinds: gelatinous, areolar, nbro-elastic, 
cartilage, bone, reticulated and adipose. Of epithel- 
ial tissue there are 7 kinds : squamous, ciliated, goblet, 
neuro, columnar, glandular and pigmented. The body 
has 7 great functions: respiration, circulation, assimi- 
lation, excretion, reproduction, sensation and reaction. 
There are 7 great organs essential to life ; brain, heart, 
lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen and pancreas. There are 
7 layers to the skin : stratum corneum, lucidum, gran- 
ulosum, germinativum, corium, hair and fat. There 
are 7 divisions to the eye : cornea, aqueous humor, iris, 

6 For further details see The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky. 
9 Vol. Ill, 565-6. 



232 The Key to the Universe 

lens, vitreous humor, retina and sclera. There are 7 
layers to the retina: fibrous, ganglion cells, inner and 
outer nuclear layers, layer of rods and cones ; pigment 
layer and the choroid. There are 7 divisions to the ear : 
auditory canal, tympanum, ossicles, semicircular 
canals, vestibule, cochlea, membranous labyrinth. The 
heart has 7 compartments or cavities : the right and left 
ventricles, right and left auricles, right and left auricu- 
lar appendages and the sack of the pericardium which 
encloses the whole. Among the Hindus the heart is 
called the 7 leaved lotus or the "Cave of Buddha" with 
7 chambers. There are 7 parts or natural divisions 
to the brain : cerebrum, cerebellum, optic thalami, 
corpora quadrigemina, crura cerebri, pons varolii and 
the medulla oblongata. There are 7 functions to 
the nervous system: olfactory, optic, auditory, gusta- 
tory, tactile, heat and pain sensations. 

2nd only to the fact that it represents the idea of 
the Godhead and the Mystery of Creation, number 7 is 
sacred because, as the Number of Gestation, it has to 
do with the complete manifestation of the Godhead in ' 
all its various expression ( l-J-2-|~3-j-4-f-5-^-6-|-7=23 
=10=1). We may expect, then, to find number 7 
connected with all forms of life and force which have 
to do with birth and bringing forth. And so we 
find it. Cosmically, it required 7 "days" or creative 
periods of enormous length to complete the objective 
manifestation of this solar system, and its evolution 
will continue through 7 more such "days," in the 4th 
of which it is now living. Materially, we find that the 
chemical elements making up the world of matter 
arrange themselves according to a 7 fold principle 
called the Periodic Law. That is if the elements are 
arranged according to their atomic weights, from the 
lightest to the heaviest, the 1st 7 are found to have 
markedly different and characteristic properties, while 



The Number 7 — (Continued) 233 

the properties of the next (8th) element are not 
different and characteristic, but resemble those of the 
1st. Similarly the 9th element resembles the 2nd, the 
10th resembles the 3rd and so on until all the elements 
(with certain temporary exceptions) are arranged in 
7 great groups, the elements composing each group 
having similar properties, functions and reactions. 

"We thus see that chemical variety, so far as 
we can grasp its inner nature, depends upon 
numerical relations, * * * we find a law of period- 
icity governed by the number seven. * * * The 
fact that this periodicity and variety is governed' 
by the number seven is undeniable, and it far 
surpasses the limits of mere chance, and must be 
assumed to have an adequate cause, which cause 
must be discovered." T 

"It must be stated that Occult Science recog- 
nizes seven Cosmic Elements — four entirely phys- 
ical, and the fifth (ether) semi-material, which 
will become visible in the Air toward the end 
of our Fourth Round, to reign supreme over the 
others during the whole of the Fifth. The re- 
maining two are as yet absolutely beyond the 
range of human perception. They will, however, 
appear as presentiments during the Sixth and 
Seventh 'Races of this Round, and will be fully 
known in the Sixth and Seventh Rounds respect- 
ively. These seven Elements with their number- 
less sub-elements, which are far more numerous 
than those known to Science, are simply condi- 
tional modifications and aspects of the One and 
only Element. This latter is not Ether, not even 
Akasha, but the source of these." 8 

Number 7 is called the "Master of the Moon," 
because the moon changes its appearance every 7 days. 
It is well known that the phases of the moon not only 
rule the tides and vegetation, but in the higher forms 
of life regulate both the periodic functions of woman 
and gestation in general. 9 

1 5. D., II, 663-4. 

8 S. D., I, 40-1. 

9 "Tke moon is the Giver of Life to our Globe; and the early races 
understood and knew it, even in their infancy." S. D., I, 415. 



234 The Key to the Universe 

"The birth, growth, maturity, vital functions, 
healthy revolutions of change, diseases, decay and 
death, of insects, reptiles, fishes, birds, mammals 
and of even man, are more or less controlled by a 
law of completion in weeks (or 7 days)." 10 

For instance, the embryo of the pigeon hatches in 
2 weeks, the chicken in 3 weeks, the turkey and duck 
in 4, the goose in 5, the rhea in 6, the ostrich in 7 and 
the cassowary in 8 weeks. Being the most complete 
of all forms of life, the human embryo or fetus, while 
viable at the 7th month, requires the complete cycle 
of 10 for its development before birth, thus, 10 months 
of 28 days or 4X7=28X10=280=10. Also the aver- 
age weight of the human fetus is 7 pounds. 

Both Hippocrates and Pythagoras held — and this is 
confirmed by the experience of modern physicians — 
that a child born at 7 months or at the full 
term of 9 months could live, because each of 
these numbers was composed of a male (odd) 
and a female (even) number, thus 3 + 4 = 7; 
5 -j- 4 = 9 ; but children born at 8 months could 
not live because born under a purely feminine 
number, thus : 4+4=8. The umbilical cord dries up 
and drops off by the 7th day; the teeth begin their 
development in the 7th week of intra-uterine life, the 
1st teeth appear during the 7th month after birth and 
the full set, which last for 7 years, are attained in the 
4X7 or 28th month, while the sex functions begin in 
the 2X7 or 14th year. 

" 'With the Egyptians number 7 was the symbol 
of life eternal', says Ragon, and adds that this is 
why the Greek letter Z, which is but a double 7, 
is the initial letter of Zao, 'I live', and of Zeus, 
the 'father of all living'." u 

The 7th letter of the Egyptian alphabet is called 
Zenta and means life. 

» S. D., II, 658. a S. D., II. 616. 



The Number J- — (Continued) 235 

The cells of our bodies are continually changing, 
the old dying and being replaced by new, so that it has 
been estimated that every 7 months the soft tissues 
are completely renewed, while every 7 years we have 
an entirely new body, even to the composition of the 
bones. 

"The physical body of man undergoes a complete 
change of structure every seven years, and its 
destruction and preservation are due to the alter- 
nate functions of the Fiery Lives, as Destroyers 
and Builders. They are builders by sacrificing 
themselves, in the form of vitality, to restrain the 
destructive influence of the microbes, and, by sup- 
plying the microbes with what is necessary, they 
compel them under that restraint to build up the 
material body and its cells. They are Destroyers 
also, v/hen that restraint is removed, and the 
microbes, unsupplied with vital constructive 
energy, are left to run riot as destructive agents." 
"The facts I have briefly glanced at are general 
facts, and cannot happen day after day in so many 
millions of animals of every kind, from the larva 
or ovum of a minute insect up to man, at definite 
periods, from a mere chance or coincidence * * * 
Upon the whole it is, I think, impossible to come 
to any less general conclusion than this, that, in 
animals, changes occur every three and a half, 
seven, fourteen, twenty-one and twenty-eight days, 
or at some definite number of weeks" 13 or 
septenary cycles. 

IS S. D., I. 283. " S. D., II, 659. 



CHAPTER 26 

the number 7 — (Continued). 
The Number of Perfection. 

"When thou hast passed into the seventh, 
(stage) O happy one, thou shalt perceive no more 
the sacred Three, * * * They have become one 
star, the fire that burns but scorches not, that 
fire which is the Upadhi of the Flame." 

— The Voice of the Silence, Blavatsky, 19-20. 

In considering number 7 in its aspect of complete- 
ness and perfection we find that the Hebrew word for 
7 is composed of the 3 letters S B O and has many- 
interpretations, but all are connected with the funda- 
mental idea of completeness and "Satisfied abundance." 
It means "age" or "cycle," hence Sabbath is the rest 
of old age or the completion of the life-cycle. It is 
connected with the gray-headed, and the 7th or Sab- 
bath day is presided over by Saturn, who is represented 
as an old man, Cronus or Father Time. In the Greek 
the word for 7 is septos, from the verb sebo, to 
venerate. 

The 3 periods which complete man's life are com- 
posed of 3, 4 and 3 groups (total 10 groups) of 7 
years each, thus: youth extends 3X7=21 yrs; prime 
extends 4X7=28 yrs; age extends 3X7=21 yrs; total 
7X10=70 yrs, or the biblical "threescore and ten" or 
3x20+10=70 years. 

"During the first half of a man's life, the 
first five periods of seven years each, the Fiery 
Lives — the 7th and highest sub-division of the 
plane of matter — are directly engaged in a proc- 
ess of building up man's material body; Life is 
on the ascending scale, and the force is used in 



The Number 7 — (Continued) 237 

construction and increase. After this period is 
passed, the age of retrogression commences, and, 
the work of the Fiery Lives exhausting their 
strength, the work of destruction and decrease 
also commences." l 

Number 7 is complete and sacred because it is 
composed of the triad (3) and the tetrad (4) or God 
and nature, combined in man. Pythagoras says num- 
ber 7 has a body composed of the 4 principles and a 
soul composed of 3 principles. 3 as the Number of 
Light is wedded to 4, the Number of Life, and 3 as 
the Number of Spirit is wedded to 4 as the Number 
of Matter, and these 2 couples are both combined in 
7. Again 3 is spiritual and Divine while 4 is physical 
and human, hence man as 7 is both human and Divine, 
the □ overshadowed and protected by the A. In 
number 5 the 1 God descends into the midst of the 
pairs of opposites of humanity thus: 2-1-2, but in 
number 7 the Divine Trinity has unfolded its triple 
aspect within the 2 pairs thus: 2-3-2, the effect of 
which is to transmute the mundane twos into divine 
threes, thus: 3-1-3 or has perfected the work begun in 
number 5 as 2-1-2. That 7 is an expression of Per- 
fection is also shown by the fact that the sum of the 
first 7 digits equals 10, thus: 1+2+3+4+5+6 
4-7=28=10. 

"The number seven," says the Kabbalah, "is 
the great number of the 'Divine Mysteries'." 2 

According to Cornelius Agrippa, "Seven, being the 
sum of the Primary Numbers, is a diameter of all 
number. A diameter of 7 has a circumference, in 
whole numbers, of 22. The action of life is a dividing 
of this circumference of 22 by its diameter of 7, result- 
ing as: 3.142857,142857 00 the residuum eternally 
repeating 142857. * * * Hence, by reason of these prop- 

» 5. D„ I, 283. 2 S. D., I, 63. 



238 The Key to the Universe 

erties of 7 * * * to numerically interpret Infinite Nature 
is to divide its number ( 999,999,999 oo) by 7. This 
gives us, again, the Number of Infinite Evolution: 
142857,142857,142857oo." 3 

It requires 7 members to form a Free Mason's Lodge 
(altho 5 may hold it after organization), thus symbol- 
izing that man to be the Master Man must manifest 
number 7. While he can hold a "lodge," *'. e., can be 
a man and live his life as a 5 fold being, yet he must 
always remember that this is but a stage of growth, 
a place of incompleteness, and that he must ultimately 
prepare and add 2 more members (senses and powers) 
to his "lodge," ere he can be a true Mason. The 
Knights of Kadosh symbolize the masonic ideals of 
the relations between God and man by a double ladder 
having 7 steps of ascent and 7 steps of descent. The 
former are called Ohed Eloah, or Love of God, while 
the latter are termed Oheb Keroho, or Love of thy 
Neighbor. These symbolize that to give true brotherly 
love to your neighbor you must first ascend in love 
to God. 

Just as the truths of the Wisdom Religion have been 
preserved through the Dark Ages in a game of cards 
■ — the Tarot, from which our playing cards were derived 
■ — so has the importance and fortunate nature of num- 
ber 7 been handed down from the days of the Chal- 
deans in the game of dice, the opposite sides of 
which always add up to 7, thus : 1 is opposite to 6, 2 
is opposite to 5 and 3 is opposite to 4. 

The method of calculating cycles in the Bible is by 
systems of weeks, weeks of days, weeks of years, etc. 

From the Goth's names for the 7 Planetary Deities 
we derive our names for the days of the week, thus, 
the Sun's day (Sunday), the Moon's day (Monday), 
Tuisco's (Mars') day (Tuesday), Wotan's (Mercury) 
day (Wednesday), Thor's (Jupiter's) day (Thurs- 

» The Mystic Thesaurus, Whitehead, 47-8. 



The Number "j — (Continued) 239 

day), Friga's (Venus') day (Friday), S'eatur's (Sat- 
urn's) day (Saturday). 

The Zuni Indians built their villages in clusters of 6 
tepees surrounding a 7th. Their mystic sacerdotal 
gatherings were composed of 6 "Priests of the House" 
who drew their inspiration from a 7th who was always 
a woman called the "Priestess Mother." While offici- 
ating at their annual festivals each was arrayed in a 
robe of the color sacred to 1 of the 7 sacred planets, 
and when so robed each was considered to be the 
representative of the planetary deity whose color he 
wore, hence gave his judgments as from that deity. 
These priests received an annual tribute of corn of 7 
colors from the members of the tribe. 4 

The city of Thebes had 7 gates built by Amphion. 
"The most famous monument of ancient Thebes was 
the outer wall with its seven gates, even as late as the 
sixth century B. C, it was probably the largest of 
artificial Greek fortresses." "The seven gates of 
Thebes, attacked and defended by seven chiefs who 
have sworn upon the blood of victims, possess the 
same significance as the seven seals of the sacred book 
interpreted by the seven genii, and assailed by a mon- 
ster with seven heads." 5 

Westcott calls attention to the fact that "The number 
7 was curiously related to H. P. Blavatsky and the 
Theosophical Society. 'Lucifer' was first published in 
1887, and 1887 is the sum of 17 hundreds, 17 tens 
and 17 units; H. P. B. lived at 17 Lansdown Road, 
and 17 Avenue Road; 'Lucifer' was published at 7 
Duke St. ; 7 volumes were completed at her death ; 
Colonel Olcott first met her at 7 Beckman Street, and 
later at 71 Broadway, New York. Anna Kingsford 
was elected president first of the London T. S. Lodge 
in 1877, and the Third volume of 'The Secret Doctrine' 
was published in 1897, after her death." 6 

* S. D., II, 665. « Numbers, 84. 

* Transcendental Magic, Levi, 14. 



240 The Key to the Universe 

Besides the passages already quoted, both the Old 
and the Neiv Testaments are filled with references to 
the number 7 which show the great regard in which 
it was held in Israel. These again exhibit the funda- 
mental idea of completion, rounding out, also, the 
binding and unalterable nature of a thing repeated 
7 times. Thus Naaman was told to dip 7 times in the 
river Jordan to be cleansed of his leprosy (II Kings 
v, 14). This is a symbol of the potency of number 7 
in evolution, for only as man has dipped at least 7 
times into the Stream of Life — which like the river 
Jordan is muddy and turbulent — and has cleansed him- 
self from all loathsome carnalities can he emerge as 
conqueror and be ready to pass on through number 8 
to his Great Initiation in number 9. 

Noah was commanded to take into the ark of all 
clean beasts by sevens, and of the unclean by pairs 
(Genesis, vii, 2). The clean beasts were those used 
for food, and as food is the material from which the 
tissues and energies of the body are elaborated, it is 
naturally ruled by 7. The unclean beasts not used for 
food refer to mundane forces which are ruled by the 
pairs of opposites. In the tabernacle a golden candle- 
stick with 7 branches was a notable feature (Exodus, 
xxv, 31.) This again symbolizes man with the fires 
in his 7 sacred centers lighted, each of which must emit 
the flame of Divine Love ere his tabernacle (body) is 
a fit dwelling place for the Holy Presence. Abraham 
made a covenant with Abimelech (Genesis, xxi, 28) 
by presenting him with 7 ewe lambs, thus making the 
covenant complete and binding. Jacob served 7 years 
for Rachael, was deceived with Leah and served yet 
7 other years for Rachael (Genesis, xxix). Pharoah 
dreamed of 7 "well favored kine and fatfleshed" and 
of 7 "ill favored and leanfleshed kine that did eat up 
the 7 well favored and fat kine." He also dreamed of 



The Number 7 — (Continued) 241 

7 ears of corn upon 1 stalk, and 7 thin and blasted 
ears which devoured the full ears. Both of these 
dreams Joseph correctly interpreted as 7 years of 
plenty followed by 7 years of famine {Genesis, xli). 

There were 7 days of unleavened bread {Exodus, xii, 
15), and 7 Sabbaths were ordained {Lev., xxiii, 15). 
The children of Israel followed 7 priests blowing 7 
trumpets for 7 days in their march around the city 
of Jericho and on the last day encompassed the city 7 
times ere its walls fell {Joshua, vi). Wisdom buildeth 
her house out of 7 pillars {Rev., ix). There are 7 
"gifts of the Spirit" mentioned by Isaiah (xi, 2) as 
follows: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, 
Knowledge, Fear (Awe) of the Lord (Law), and 
Righteous Judgment. 

In the New Testament, as we have pointed out else- 
where, 7 "The Man upon the cross spoke seven sen- 
tences symbolizing the seven steps of Initiation." 
"Father forgive them ; for they know not what they 
do. * * * Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. 
* * * Woman, behold they son. * * * My God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me? * * * I thirst. * * * It is 
finished. * * * Father, into Thy hands I commend my 
spirit." 

"Man has his seven Principles, each of which is 
derived from and ruled over by one of these seven 
Planetary Angels, called by St. John 'the angels of 
the seven churches/ Also, 'you have the seven 
Angelic Planes, whose "Host" collectively are the 
Gods thereof.' " 8 Man and Nature are akin, and 
while each man contains emanations from all the 7 
creative Rays 9 manifested through his 7 Principles, 
still in each man 1 influence or Ray predominates. This 
fact naturally divides mankind into 7 main classes of 
thought, designated by St. John, as we indicated in a 
previous lesson, 10 as the 7 "churches." "These 7 great 

7 See lesson The Meaning of the Cross. 
» 5. D., II, 251. 
' V . of I., Chapter xiii. 
10 The Revelation of St. John. 



242 The Key to the Universe 

modes of viewing Truth are subdivided ad libitum. 
* * * The many subdivisions agree with the manifold 
character of the planetary influences, which vary with 
each hour of the day." 

"This idea of the seven fold division of the universe 
is esoterically represented in Revelation by 'the seven 
churches which are in Asia.' These were at Ephesus, 
Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and 
Laodicea. These names were made use of more to 
illustrate the inner truth than as applying to the his- 
torical cities, altho the churches in those cities may 
have manifested the types of thought indicated, just 
as Wall Street in New York is used to symbolize the 
power of money. The inner truth so symbolized has, 
of course, seven keys by which it can be read, one 
interpretation being that the seven churches refer to 
the seven principal ganglia or centers of the human 
nervous system, another to the seven steps of Initia- 
tion." 11 

"A 'church' signifies an aggregation of people of 
similar thought, and here we find all humanity divided 
into seven great classes or types called 'churches.' The 
words 'which are in Asia' are merely an euphonious 
blind, for we find that these seven 'churches' or types 
of humanity have existed in various parts of the world 
for ages. And they always will exist, for, as we have 
shown in the lesson on Evolution, 12 mankind is the 
progeny or emanation from seven great Creators or, 
as the Bible terms them, the Elohim. * * * And as 
we showed in that same lesson, all mankind are emana- 
tions from one of these seven great spiritual Progen- 
itors or, as St. John terms them, 'The seven Spirits 
which stood before his throne.' This throne, which is 
spoken of later on 13 as 'a great white throne,' is the 
perfect white light of the Divine into which all its 
manifestations (rays) are ultimately indrawn and 

11 See lesson The Seven Churches. 
u V. of I., Chapter xiii. 
15 Revelation, xx, 11. 



The Number 7 — (Continued) 243 

enthroned. Hence, of necessity, there must be in the 
world seven distinct classes of religious thought, each 
trying to manifest the characteristics of the Ray of 
which it is an expression." 

"Not only have there been, since the world began, 
seven representative schools of thought — first under 
one name and then, as times change, under another — 
but every child is born with a type of mind over which 
the influence of one of these great Rays predominates. 
* * * Therefore, to confine the seven 'churches' to 
the handful of apostolic adherents in the historical 
cities whose names are mentioned, is to lose the univer- 
sal significance of the revelation." 

"The seven golden candlesticks which St. John saw 
symbolized the outer garments or the physical vehicles 
or methods by which the seven manifestations of the 
Light of Truth are placed before man. The seven can- 
dles symbolize the seven different types of teaching 
which the seven candlesticks (churches) uphold before 
the world, and by which the Flame or Spiritual Light 
is given to humanity, the Light in all cases being iden- 
tical, altho produced by different candles." 14 

" See lesson The Revelation of St. John. 



CHAPTER 27 

the number 7 — (Continued). 

The Number of Perfection— (Continued) . 

"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat 
on the throne a book written within and on the 
backside, sealed with seven seals. * * * And I 
beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of 
the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, 
stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven 
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits 
of God sent forth into all the earth." 

— Revelation, v, 1-6. 

The book of Revelation abounds in the use of 7 in 
reference to completion, such as the 7 vials of the 7 
last plagues ; the 7 trumpet calls ; the 7 thunders ; the 
sounding of the 7 angels ; the 7 kings, 5 of whom are 
fallen ; the beast with the 7 heads, etc. 

As we have said elsewhere: "The book mentioned 
in our text is the great Book of Life (Akashic Rec- 
ords), with its seven fold manifestations, so frequently 
referred to in scriptural and occult literature. Within 
this Great Book is written all that is to manifest during 
the cycle which begins when the word is spoken, 'Let 
there be light', and the Spirit of Life moves upon 
the face of the waters of Chaos. The seven seals are 
the seven manifestations of the One Life; in the solar 
system, the seven cosmic centers of force or powers of 
the Heavenly Man and the seven great Day-periods 
or Rounds ; in humanity the seven Great Races, and in 
man, made in the image of the seven fold Elohim, 
the seven sacred centers of his body and his seven 
stages of growth. Just as a stone thrown into a calm 
pool sets up ever widening waves of vibration, so the 
Light shot out into the darkness of Chaos causes a 



The Number of Perfection — (Continued) 245 

seven fold wave of manifestation throughout the 
Cosmos. 

"The Great Book as applied to man is his body with 
its seven sacred centers. It is sealed with seven seals 
because, altho individually man can open these centers 
as he evolves godward, for humanity as a whole they 
open only as it passes through the seven Great Races, 
each of which opens to man a new sense, new condi- 
tions and new experiences. These centers are the 
avenues through which man comes into conscious com- 
munion with the higher realms, but they are sealed until 
through normal growth he has evolved to a point 
where he can control and utilize them." 1 

The fact that the Great Book of the Akashic Rec- 
ords is sealed with 7 seals which no man is worthy to 
open, should effectually dispose of the claims of those 
who say they have transcribed certain works directly 
from> the Akashic Records. There is, however, a 
reflecting medium which is mistaken by many psychics 
for the Akashic Records. This reflects both from 
above and below, but looked at from the earth it reflects 
more from present day conditions than from the 
Akashic Records, thus mixing the 2. 

Number 7 when complete in man may be called The 
Christ-Gift (the prototype of the Christmas gift) 
which is sealed with the 7 seals of Love, Patience, 
Purity, Trust, Perseverance, Endurance and Devotion. 
These are the King's seals which must be opened and 
manifested 1 by 1. For even if 1 remains sealed the 
Neophyte will not bear the mark on his forehead 
which seals him as 1 of the Elect. 

"The lamb had seven horns and seven eyes. The 
horn is an universal symbol of power. Horns are the 
principal defense and strength of many animals, 
enabling them to maintain their supremacy over those 
having no horns. For this reason the Ram becomes 

1 Se« lesson The Great Book, Part I. 



246 The Key to the Universe 

the leader and defender of the flock, the sheep being 
without horns. A horn symbolizes a ruler, a king or 
military power. To 'exalt one's horn' or 'cause it to 
bud' or grow is to strengthen and prosper. To 'lift 
one's horn' is to become arrogant, to 'cut off one's 
horn' is to weaken or be crushed. The horn is also a 
symbol of plenty, both in the physical and spiritual life, 
showing that the Ram 1 , although slain and reborn as 
the Lamb, must still lead and feed the flock through 
the plenteous outpourings from its seven horns. The 
seven horns symbolize the seven great powers of man, 2 
whose attainment are steps upon the Path to Mastery 
along which The Christ-light must lead him. * * * 
The seven eyes, 'which are the seven Spirits of God 
sent forth into all the earth', in this connection sym- 
bolize that spiritual insight which is the accompaniment 
and reward of such conquering," 1 or the perfected clear 
seeing upon all planes, as well as the watchful care of 
the Spirit. 

"The seven stars in the right hand of the Ancient 
of Days are the seven Cosmic Forces or Planetary 
Deities. Another aspect of these same Forces is sym- 
bolized by the lights of the seven candles, but in this 
case they are confined to an earthly vehicle, the Light 
merely shining through a limited earthly conception 
— for although the candlesticks are golden (pure) they 
rest upon the earth — while in the case of the stars the 
Light shines direct from the Absolute. It also indi- 
cates that the Great Law holds even the planets and 
the Planetary Deities in its hand. 'As above, so 
below,' the one Light in both stars and candlesticks. 
Do not confuse this teaching with Pantheism, for it 
is not. We do not teach that there are many co-equal 
gods, but that there are many divine, Entitized Mani- 
festations of the one God, the Absolute." 

"The Great Law has two aspects, one represented 

1 See lesson The Great Book, Part I. 

2 See The Voice of Isis, Chapter xii. 



The Number of Perfection — (Continued) 247 

by the seven stars — the seven manifestations of the 
Great Law in its purity — and the other represented by 
the seven candlesticks or its chosen vehicles of expres- 
sion on earth. These vehicles, while of gold and orig- 
inally reflecting the light of the seven stars in its 
purity, are nevertheless susceptible to contamination 
by the mire of earth, as the rebukes given to the seven 
churches in the next chapter will show." 3 A candle- 
stick is a specially created (manufactured) instrument 
for the 1 purpose of holding a candle that the Light 
may shine out to illuminate and guide humanity. 

The Sepher Yetzirah agrees with occult philosophy 
when it states that out of the 7 letters and the 7 num- 
bers, colors, tones and the planetary forces with which 
they are identified, there were created the 7 worlds, 
the 7 heavens, 7 earths, 7 seas, 7 rivers, 7 deserts, 7 
days, etc. The 7 worlds are the 7 globes which com- 
pose a World Chain. Among Kabalists these 7 worlds 
are called the Original, Intelligible, Celestial, Elemen- 
tary, Lesser (astral), Infernal (Kama Loka or Hades) 
and the physical or Temporal. The 7 heavens are the 
7 divisions or sub-planes of the Astral 4 (i. e., the 
reflective, etheric, vital, desire, mental, inspirational 
and ecstatic). The 7 earths are the 7 states of con- 
sciousness experienced on earth, i. e., primitive animal 
consciousness ; self-consciousness ; tribal or class-con- 
sciousness ; ethical or duty to others ; astral or psychic ; 
spiritual or Christ-consciousness, and Universal or 
Cosmic Consciousness. The 7 seas refer to the 7 states 
of illusion. The 7 rivers are the 7 streams of force in 
man, i. e., blood, nerve, pranic, astral, mental, psychic 
and spiritual. The 7 deserts are the barren wastes of 
doubts, fears, misconceptions, disappointments, disil- 
lusions, poverty and ill health. 

"It is on account of his septenary nature that the 
Sun is spoken of by the ancients as one who is 



3 See lesson The Ancient of Days. 
* See Realms of the Astral, Curtiss. 



248 The Key to the Universe 

driven by seven horses equal to the meters of the 
Vedas; * * *as also that he has Seven Rays as 
indeed he has. * * * The Seven Beings in the Sun 
are the Seven Holy Ones, self-born from the in- 
herent power in the Matrix of Mother-Substance. 
It is they who send the seven principal Forces, 
called Rays, which at the beginning of Pralaya 
will center into seven new Suns for the next Man- 
vantara." B 

The 7th Path in the Sepher Yetsirah is that of Occult 
Intelligence, a combination of Faith and Intellect. In 
Hinduism the Path of Perfection is made up of a 
series of 7s, each 7 marking a definite step or a vic- 
tory won by the Neophyte. These steps are spoken 
of as Portals or Gates because the Neophyte must pass 
through experiences and enter states of consciousness 
which are closed to him until he brings the Golden 
Key to each or until he has attained the mystic power 
which will open them. These 7 keys are as follows: 
to the 1st Portal, Charity and all-embracing Love; to 
the 2nd, Harmony and Fearlessness ; to the 3rd, 
Patience ; to the 4th, Indifference to pleasure as to 
pain ; to the 5th, dauntless Energy ; to the 6th, cease- 
less Contemplation, and to the 7th, the Key which 
opens the final gate, whose entrance makes of man 
a God. 

Number 7 is held to represent magic in its fulness, 
filiphas Levi says: "The virtue of the Septenary is 
absolute in magic for the number is decisive in all 
things ; hence all religions have consecrated it in their 
rites." 8 In other words man (5), through the power 
of The Christ- force (6), in number 7 has claimed his 
heritage. He can now stand upon the Foundation 
Stone (4) and allow the Divine Triangle (3) to pour 
down its triune blessings upon his head. The 5 pointed 
star has gained 2 more points — the rod by which man 
holds his 5 powers in his right hand, and the Dot in 

6 S. D., I, 310. 9 Transcendental Magic, 79. 



The Number of Perfection — (Continued) 249 

the center which synthesizes all his powers, the true 
magic pentagram. (Fig. 7.) It is man's mind rein- 
forced by all the elementary potencies. 




Fig. 7 

"Viewed as a compound of 6 and 1, the Senary and 
the Unity, number 7 was the invisible center, the Spirit 
of everything, as there exists no hexagonal body with- 
out a seventh property being found as the central point 
in it." 7 

The symbol of a star with 7 points was sometimes 
used in ancient temples and Schools of Mysteries, but 
it was used as an exoteric blind ; for it was well known 
by the initiated Priests that a 7 pointed star was not a 
true symbol. A star with 7 points would necessarily 
focus the forces which the points contacted into a 
central point, thus giving the figure an 8 fold power. 
This symbol was used to instruct the Neophyte in 
the perfection of number 7 and to instill into his mind 
a reverence for its potencies, while the force invoked 
was that of number 8, which is both evolution, balance 
and poise, all of which are qualities necessary for 
Initiation. But until he had passed his Initiation the 

» S. D„ II, 616. 



250 The Key to the Universe 

6 pointed star with its central Dot could not be 
entrusted to him, lest he misuse its potencies and 
powers. Hence in true esoteric symbolism there is no 

7 pointed star, as it cannot be formed by the combi- 
nation of any 2 simple geometrical figures, altho it is 
sometimes seen in exoteric emblems. The geometrical 
symbol of number 7 is the interlaced triangles with 




the Dot in the center X ' A > tne Dot being the 

same germinal point we found within the circle, or 
the creative nucleus of the mundane €gg which has 
evolved during its 6 day-periods of creation through 
nature and man and become the synthesized focal point 
for the forces of its 6 manifestations. As O repre- 



sents Deity as the source of all so Y . Y represents 




Deity manifesting through the perfect unfolding and 
balancing of the positive and negative triangles 
described under number 6. The 6 points represent 
the 6 days required to bring forth the microcosm, while 
the Dot within is the Throne upon which the Deity 
rests on the 7th day and pronounces all His works 
good. As the Dot in the circle represents the Throne 
of Deity in the macrocosm, so the Dot in the 6 pointed 
star represents the Throne of Deity established and 
manifesting in the microcosm. The Dot in the center 
represents the Soul of all things, as the star represents 
the body, for there is no body which 6 lines or the 6 
directions of space — north, south, east, west, up, down 
— will not enclose, and which is not an outward mani- 
festation of the 7th point in the center. This symbol 
therefore represents the perfected spiritual or Nirmana- 
kaya body when attained. 



The Number of Perfection — (Continued) 251 

"In its Unity, Primordial Light is the seventh, 
or highest, principle, Daiviprakriti, the Light of 
the Unmanifested Logos. But in its differentia- 
tion, it becomes Fohat, or the 'Seven Sons.' The 
former is symbolized by the central point in the ft 
Double Triangle ; the latter by the Hexagon itself, 
or the 'Six Limbs' of Microprosopus, the Seventh 
being Malkuth, the 'Bride' of the Christian Kabal- 
ists." 8 
By the Essenes this symbol is called the Seal of 
Solomon, for they recognized Solomon as the person- 
ification of esoteric Wisdom. And to this day, even 
among Christian peoples it is still looked upon as a 
powerful talisman, especially in Russia and Poland. 
The Pythagoreans called it the symbol of creation and 
the Egyptians similarly looked upon it as the union of 
fire (3) and water (4) or generation. 

The 7th Sephira is called Netzach, "Firmness and 
Victory, corresponding to the divine name Jehovah 
Tzabaoth, the Lord of Hosts and the angelic names 
Elohim and Tharshism, the Brilliant Ones." Hence 
man can evolve intellectually to a point where he can 
unfold the 6 Sephira, that is, he can intertwine the 
divine attributes with the physical and thus become the 
magic symbol of Solomon's Seal, the Seal of Wisdom. 
But until he has unfolded or manifested the 7th point 
and gained a complete Victory ; until he has fixed his 
gaze upon the Star of Initiation, The Christ-sun, and 
made that the center from which all his works pro- 
ceed, he may be a magician with mighty power, but he 
is not accepted as a White Magician. The 6 repre- 
sents wonderful intellectual development, but it must 
recognize, accept and respond to the Spiritual Over- 
shadowing or the Divine Illumination of the Dot in the 
center, ere the perfection of 7 is reached. 

"The seventh key is the hieroglyph of the sacred 
septenary, of royalty, of the priesthood (the In- 
itiate), of triumph and true result by struggle. 

• 5". D., I, 236. 



252 The Key to the Universe 

It is magic power in all its force, the true 'Holy 
Kingdom.' In the Hermetic Philosophy it is the 
quintessence resulting from the union of the two 
forces of the great Magic Agent (Akasha, the 
Astral Light)." 8 

In the Greek legend Minas, King of Crete, 
demanded every 9th year a toll of 7 youths and 7 
maidens who were sacrificed to Minatour, a monster 
with the body of a man and the head of a bull. This 
monster was confined in a labyrinth, in whose passages 
any of the victims who attempted to escape lost their 
way and were eventually devoured. When the time 
for the 3rd sacrifice drew near, Theseus, taking the 
place of the youths and maidens, went to Crete to 
slay the Monster. At his landing, Ariadne, the 
daughter of Minas and granddaughter of the Sun-god 
Helios, fell in love with Theseus and gave him a thread 
which he unwound as he proceeded and thus was 
enabled to find his way out of the labyrinth after slay- 
ing the Monster. 

This myth symbolizes the positive (masculine) and 
the negative (feminine) aspects of the 7 planetary 
Hierarchies through which the great tests of humanity 
are brought out. Since the bull symbolizes the sign 
Taurus and the generative power, the meaning is that 
the man whose passions (bull) rule and dominate the 
body (occupy the seat of government, the head), is 
confined and shut in on every side by the labyrinth of 
earth conditions. In other words, animal man while 
evolving through the lower aspects of forces sym- 
bolized by the 3 decans of Taurus, degrades and 
devours the most beautiful planetary influences, until 
the close of the 3rd cycle or 3rd great Initiation, when 
the Real Self (Theseus), by following the thread of 
Love and Intuition given him by the feminine aspect 
or daughter of the Sun (the 3rd decan of Taurus being 

• s. D„ III, 106. 



The Number of Perfection — (Continued) 253 

ruled by Venus), is able to slay the Monster and set 
the planetary influences free from the domination of 
the animal-man, that they may accomplish their true 
mission of opening to the initiated man the gates of 
Paradise or the New Jerusalem. 

Among the Greeks the sun is portrayed as a chariot 
drawn by 7 horses, representing the 7 planetary Hier- 
archies or Rays. And, in the myth, Phaethon, the 
mortal son of Helios the Sun-god, essays to drive this 
chariot of the sun, with disastrous results. The 
meaning of this allegory is that man must perfect his 
7 principles and his 7 powers on earth and become 
more than mortal ere he can safely hold the reins and 
control the 7 planetary forces. It also refutes a pop- 
ular modern teaching, i. e., that because man has a 
divine Father he is therefore, noiv in his present unde- 
veloped state, a god with all the powers of a god suc- 
cessfully to negotiate the circle of the zodiac in his 
own strength. The fate of those who espouse this 
doctrine is as certain as was Phaethon's, for like him 
they must face all the monsters of the zodiac, espe- 
cially Scorpio which caused the disaster to Phaethon. 
As the legend reads, "Here the Scorpion extended 
his two great arms, with his tail and crooked claws 
stretching over two signs of the Zodiac (Virgo and 
Scorpio which were formerly one sign and represented 
in Syrio-Chaldean magic as God and the Devil). When 
the boy beheld him, reeking with poison and menac- 
ing with his fangs, his courage failed and the reins 
fell from his hands." 10 The test of Scorpio — the test 
of sex- — is thus fitly described. It is under this test 
that so many self-styled gods in mortal frame fail. 
And as with Phaethon the fiery steeds of thought run 
away with them and they are dashed to earth. 

The dragons and serpents of antiquity were all 7 
headed, as was the Beast of the Apocalypse, a head for 

10 The Age of Fable, Bulfinch, 54. 



254 The Key to the Universe 

each of the 7 Races, and had 7 hairs on each head, 
representing the 7 sub-races of each Great Race. The 
4 Dragons of Wisdom were composed of 7 constella- 
tions each. The 7 Northern constellations made up the 
Black Warrior ; the 7 Eastern, the White Tiger ; the 7 
Southern, the Vermillion Bird, and the 7 Western, the 
Azure Dragon. The 7 headed Akkadian Serpent 
whose heads multiplied from 7 into 1000, fitly sym- 
bolizes the 7 Principles of man and nature, with their 
manifold aspects. Number 7 was also held sacred to 
several gods, for instance, Osiris, whose body was 
cut into 2x7 pieces ; Mars and his 7 attendants ; Apollo 
and his 7 stringed lyre, etc. 



CHAPTER 28 

THE 7 PRINCIPLES OF MAN. 

The One Life is, as explained, a Film for crea- 
tive or formative purposes. It manifests in seven 
states, which, with their septenary subdivisions, 
are the Forty-nine Fires mentioned in the sacred 
books. To Man it gives all that it bestows on 
all the rest of the manifested units in Nature; 
but develops, furthermore, the reflection of all its 
'Forty-nine Fires' in hirn. Each of his seven prin- 
ciples is an heir in full to, and a partaker of, the 
seven principles of the 'Great Mother'." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, Vol. I, 310. 

The 7 Principles of which man is composed, from 
the densest and most material to the highest and most 
spiritual, are as follows : 

The ist Principle. The Physical Body. 

While the physical body is the lowest expression of 
the Real or Divine Self it is 1 of the most important. 
Altho at the opposite pole from Spirit it nevertheless 
has within it the centers in and through which each of 
the higher Principles must focus to manifest on earth. 
The body therefore should not be looked upon as a 
hampering garment to be despised and escaped from 
as soon as possible, for it is an instrument which is 
absolutely necessary for the manifestation of the 
Higher Self and without which it cannot accomplish 
its mission in the physical world. The viewpoint of 
Christian Mysticism is therefore just the opposite 
to much teaching that passes for true Oriental phil- 
osophy. Because the animal body is passionate, seduc- 
tive, self-willed, hard to train and control until it has 
been purified, spiritualized and made the willing serv- 



256 The Key to the Universe 

ant of the Real Man, many Eastern students seek to 
weaken it, maim it, or even kill out its natural forces, 
that they may ultimately escape from the bondage of 
the flesh and from rebirth. But the Christian Mystic 
seeks to perfect it in every part and have every function 
in its highest state of activity that it may be a perfect 
instrument, well knowing that rebirth must continue 
until he has built up a perfected and spiritualized 
organism through which perfectly to express The 
Christ-force for the redemption of himself, his fellow- 
men and the lower kingdoms. 

The physical body is made in the image of the Spir- 
itual Body of the Real Man. It is therefore an organ- 
ism in which all the creative energies of the 7 fold 
Elohim are synthesized and through which they must 
manifest. Hence the Soul must again and again build 
a physical body, until ultimately it builds 1 which can 
perfectly express the Divine Man. It may be compared 
to a switchboard containing terminals for the ramifica- 
tions of a mighty electrical system, some of its cur- 
rents connecting it with the higher Principles and all 
parts of the universe, even the distant planets, all of 
which affect and manifest through the physical body. 

The 2nd Principle, The Astral Body. 

The Astral Body is the shadow or pattern sent into 
the mother's womb, into the meshes of which the 
physical materials composing the flesh and bone of the 
future man are built. Its focal points in the physical 
body are the spleen and liver. It is the seat of sensa- 
tion, and its avenue of operation is through the nerves. 
The spleen is the seat of the higher and more refined 
sensations, the liver of the coarser and more material. 
The astral body is a material body, so material that 
under certain conditions of condensation it can be 
photographed with an ordinary camera, 1 but the matter 

1 Se« Photographing the Invisible, Coats. 



The 7 Principles of Man 257 

of which it is composed is more tenuous, etherea. and 
of a higher rate of vibration than physical matter. It 
is so plastic that it is capable of being acted upon from 
within by the Real Self, from the mental world through 
thought, from the passional world of the Animal Soul 
through the emotions and from the physical world 
through the nerves. It is also easily affected by the 
vibrations from the beings and forces in all the realms 
of the astral world. 

This is also the body which exudes from a medium 
during a materialization seance, its plastic condition 
allowing it to take on the appearance of the entity 
desiring to manifest, or even the thoughts of the sit- 
ters. It is connected to the spleen of the medium by 
an astral cord, the rupture of which would mean death 
to the medium. Hence it is dangerous to pass between 
a materialized form and its medium. This body of 
sensation must be purified, perfected and ruled by the 
Real Man, for it is an important garment of the Soul 
as well as the image of man. 

The 3rd Principle. The Life-force. 

This Principle is that aspect of the 1 Life which is 
sometimes called the sun-principle or prana. This 
force has its seat in the physical body in the solar 
plexus, its point of contact through the umbilicus and 
its action through the lungs, blood and spine. Since 
this Principle is a stream of force from the universal 
Cosmic Life-principle or the Breath of Life, it is a 
connecting link which binds all the Principles, not only 
together but, through the 1 Life, to all that is in mani- 
festation. It is through a perfect understanding and 
control of this Principle that the Adept rules all his 
lower Principles and while still in the physical body 
learns to make conscious contact with the Higher 
Self. This force must act according to the laws of 



258 The Key to the Universe 

harmony and purity and be under the guidance of the 
Divine Will or it will be like steam escaping from 
leaks in a boiler. 1st, it fails to give its power to the 
engine (body), which consequently slows down, grows 
weak, devitalized and ultimately stops ; 2nd, it acts 
as a destroyer, just as escaping steam fills the engine- 
room, rusts the engine and becomes a menace to the 
engineer (the Real Self). Therefore this Principle 
of the Life-force is the creator or bringer of life to 
the physical and astral bodies, the preserver and regu- 
lator of life and vitality, and finally the destroyer. 
During the lower stages of development — as in the 
animal and undeveloped man — this force is guided by 
the subconscious mind according to the law of har- 
mony. But in the higher stages where mind is more 
active, its normal currents and actions are interfered 
with by man's impure thoughts, habits and desires, 
also by anything that defiles the breath. Hence we 
have physical inharmony, sickness and disease, as 
manifestations or stages in the process of disinte- 
gration. 

The 4th Principle. The Desire Body or Animal Soul. 

This Principle, together with the physical and astral 
bodies and the life-force, completes the 4 fold Foun- 
dation Stone laid by the Higher Self in the physical 
world. For only as the Divine Ray sent down into 
matter can find a foundation composed of the elements 
belonging to the worlds in which it seeks expression, 
can it manifest there and garner the experiences of 
those worlds. Therefore its earthly instrument of 
manifestation is built up just as is a house. 1st, the 
plan or pattern is conceived and the framework 
erected, the outer structure is built around it, the life- 
force warms it and then the Animal Soul, like a 



The "j Principles of Man 259 

janitor, takes charge. Then it is ready for occupancy 
by the owner, the Real Self. 

The Animal Soul (Kama) includes the animal de- 
sires, passions, sensations and the subconscious mind, 
together with the desires, passions and emotions 
brought to it from the astral and mental worlds ; for 
the astral can transmit both the good from above and 
the evil from below. The subconscious mind, com- 
posed of the synthesis of the consciousness of each cell, 
organ, nerve center and force in these lower bodies, 
is the means by which the Animal Soul rules over all 
the bodily functions. It is also the regulator and 
ruler of the waves of life-force and the breath in the 
body, and through them keeps the body in health. It 
also correlates all the desires, emotions and sensations 
which will cement the 4 lower Principles together and 
make a firm foundation on which the 3 higher Prin- 
ciples may build their Temple of the Living God. In 
short, this is the Stone which the builders — both Ori- 
ental and Christian teachers — have heretofore rejected, 
because apparently so hopelessly perverted by man's 
wrong thinking and so impregnated with disintegra- 
tion and death, but which ultimately must become, 1st 
for the individual and then for the Race, the "head- 
stone of the corner." 

The Animal Soul has its seat in the liver and its 
point of contact in the sex centers, while it rules the 
body through the brain of the subconscious mind, the 
Solar Plexus. It must gather strength and power 
from all sensations, desires and experiences and de- 
vote all its life-forces to the 1 end, namely, toward 
erecting the Temple in which The Christ may dwell 
among men, and from which The Christ-radiance may 
send forth its redeeming power to all the kingdoms. 
The Animal Soul is, therefore, the synthesis of the 4 
lower Principles, overshadowed by the Rational Mind 



260 The Key to the Universe 

(Lower Manas). But when it attracts to itself and 
holds captive the Rational Mind through animal de- 
sire, it becomes the personal tempter (Kama-manas). 
The desires and appetites of this Animal Soul, which 
in the animal kingdom are perfectly normal when 
ruled by the Group Soul of the species through in- 
stinct, in the human kingdom must be ruled by the 
Rational Mind. But under the liberty allowed by 
human free-will they tend to run wild and follow their 
own inclinations. They thus often enhance and mag- 
nify the normal animal instincts and seduce and drag 
man down below the level of the beasts. This is the 
great fight in man ; the Animal Soul seeking to gratify 
unrestrainedly its natural appetites, and the Higher 
Self endeavoring to make it follow the higher path 
through the guidance of the Rational Mind. It is 
this Animal Soul that must be curbed, made to occupy 
its true place and become the faithful servant of the 
Rational Mind, as the latter must be the faithful serv- 
ant of the Super-conscious Mind or the mind of the 
Higher Self. 2 • 

The jth Principle. Mind (Manas) or Spiritual Self- 
Consciousness. 

Mind is the 3rd aspect of the Divine Triangle or 
Trinity, Atma-Buddhi-Manas, the Immortal Self, the 
Soul, the Father-in-heaven, which overshadows the 
human personality; "the three-tongued Flame that 
never dies." The true Mind, therefore, transcends its 
lower expression, Intellect, to a far greater degree 
than Intellect transcends Instinct. This Principle is 
usually presented only in its dual aspect of Higher 
and Lower Mind or Manas. While this division is 
correct as far as it goes, it leaves much to be desired ; 
for in reality Mind, like all the Principles, is septenary, 
with 3 main divisions corresponding to body, mind 

2 For further discussion of the subconscious mind, see V. of I., 
90, 167, 206. 



The 7 Principles of Man 261 

and Spirit, i. <?., the Subconscious, the Rational and the 
Spiritual or Super-conscious Mind. 

Much confusion has been caused by exoteric writers 
classing all mental and psychic manifestations not 
attributable to the mind of the ordinary waking con- 
sciousness, as belonging to the subconscious mind, 
thus trying to account for both animal instinct and 
the most spiritual inspiration and ecstasy as coming 
from the same source. Such a manifestly absurd con- 
clusion is easily avoided if we remember that the 
prefix sub means under or below. Therefore the word 
.sw&conscious should be used to designate only those 
aspects of Mind which lie below the threshold of the 
Rational Mind. These include the consciousness of 
the individual cells and organs, together with animal 
instinct, which constitutes the mind of the Animal 
Soul, and from which we can never expect to receive 
inspiration and spiritual guidance, for the latter must 
come from above. 

The Rational Mind is the ordinary waking con- 
sciousness which functions through the Intellect, and 
has its seat in the cortex of the brain. It is the mid- 
dle aspect of Mind, and like the middle number (5) 
it marks the difference between the human and the 
lower kingdoms, but overshadowing and blending into 
them through its subconscious aspect, just as it in 
turn is overshadowed by, and is capable of blending 
into, the Super-conscious Mind. 

All the lower kingdoms are under the dominion of 
man's thought. When self-consciousness awoke, the 
Rational Mind was given control over instinct, and 
should therefore stand upright on the Foundation 
Stone and guide all the lower Principles. But until the 
Rational Mind is enlightened from above and realizes 
its responsibility, it only too often revels in the desires 
of the Animal Soul and lends its higher intellectual 



262 The Key to the Universe 

powers to enhance and degrade what should be but a 
normal animal instinct. 

The Spiritual or Super-conscious Mind is the real 
5th Principle which overshadows the personality, and 
whose informing ray makes man an intellectual and 
rational, instead of an instinctive, animal. Hence only 
when its 2 lower and limited aspects have become 
united with the higher, and the Higher Self or Soul 
has perfect control over its instrument, the personality, 
has man reached number 10. From 1 to 5 the lower 
kingdoms struggle toward self-consciousness, but from 
5 to 10 man fights the battle allegorized in all scrip- 
tures under various names, such as the war in heaven, 
Armageddon, etc., but all referring to the war between 
the Higher and lower selves for the control of the 
personality. The 1st great battle is won when the 
Spiritual Mind is able to inspire — not force — the per- 
sonality to respond to its overshadowing love and 
wisdom, and the Rational Mind sees the desirability 
and logical necessity of setting out in earnest to climb 
the heights to its Father's home. Thus life after life 
the Spiritual Mind reaches down into the experiences 
of earth life, sifting and weighing them and storing 
up the good, the beautiful and the true to be blended 
with the 6th Principle, overshadowed and illumined 
by the 7th, the 1 Ray of the Divine. When thus 
blended and illumined it becomes the Immortal Self, 
the Higher Self, the personal god, the highest point 
of attainment for each individual. When thus blended 
with the 6th and 7th Principles the Mind is also the 
Reincarnating Ego "with a form (rupa), which pre- 
vails during the whole life cycle of the Fourth Round, 
while its Sosie, or resemblance, the personal Ego, has 
to win its immortality ;" 3 for the 4 lower Principles, 
since they pertain to the physical world, are mortal 
and perishable until redeemed. 

» 5 1 . D., II, 519. 



The 7 Principles of Man 263 

The Higher Self, being purely spiritual, can have no 
direct consciousness in the physical world. Hence to 
enable it to complete its manifestation in all worlds 
and to become a redeemer it must send down a Ray 
of itself into the human-animal body that through this 
expression in matter it may complete its Destiny. This 
Ray is called the Antaskarana, the bridge which joins 
the lower to the higher, the earthly to the Divine. It 
is also called the bridge across the "Great Abyss" over 
which the pilgrim must cross to the "eternal shore," 
for it is over this Ray from the Spiritual Mind that 
the Rational Mind of man must send every aspiration 
of the heart, together with the ultimate lesson of good 
out of every condition experienced by it or the Animal 
Soul. During each life the Higher Self thus garners 
all the spiritual experiences of its Ray or reflection, 
and upon its withdrawal rests in the bosom of the 
Father, while the Animal Soul, with all that has not 
been redeemed, disintegrates. 

"The essence of the Divine Ego is 'pure 
flame,' an entity to which nothing can be added 
and from which nothing can be taken ; it can- 
not, therefore, be diminished, even by countless 
numbers of lower minds, detached from it like 
flames from a flame."* 

The story of the crucifixion is an allegory of the 
fate of the 5th Principle, for just as the Divine must 
take upon itself individuality in the World of Forma- 
tion by embodying a Ray from Itself in the Spiritual 
Mind or Higher Manas, so in turn must this divine 
Son take upon itself personality, become flesh and 
temporarily be separated from its Father. It is this 
Ray, therefore, which makes itself responsible 
(through its lower expressions) for all the sins of its 
various personalities. This is the real vicarious atone- 
ment. Hence the "abyss" is often described as inhab- 

« S. D„ III, 511. 



264 The Key to the Universe 

ited by monsters of evil seeking to clutch the pilgrim 
Ray and pull it down as it strives to cross the bridge 
to its Father's home. Again, the Antaskarana is the 
cross by means of which The Christ-principle is ex- 
pressed in matter. It is diagrammatically expressed 
thus: 



As. 



/amttsaaitair 

<¥tKt/e*t AW 



This truth, altho for ages holding a most important 
place in mysticism, was suppressed by the early 
Church as bearing too close a resemblance to the story 
of Jesus, which is but an allegory expressing this same 
truth. 

In another sense the Spiritual Mind is the mansion 
in heaven prepared for 'its lower expression or son, 
that where the Father is there may the son be also. 
But it is the son or personality who must furnish this 
mansion by the pure thoughts, aspirations and lessons 
which the Rational Mind of each personality is all the 
time storing up in the Spiritual Mind. At the next 
incarnation the Spiritual Mind again sends down a 
Ray and builds up another personality which embodies 
as inherent faculties all the experiences gained and 
powers unfolded during the previous incarnation. 

In the gospel allegory the Trinity or Spiritual Soul 
is called the Father who sent his only begotten Son 
{lower manas or Rational Mind) into earth condi- 
tions, not only to express the divine attributes of his 
Father, but also, when 1 with his Father, to become 
the Redeemer by giving up his life or Christ-force that 
literally, "whosoever believeth on him, shall not perish 



The / Principles of Man 265 

but have eternal life." That is, whosoever believeth 
that the Mind is a Ray from the Divine Mind given 
to man as a means by which he can garner wisdom out 
of experience ; through whose illumination he can up- 
lift, inform and redeem all beneath him; also as a 
means to find and become 1 with his divine Father; 
such an 1 can never perish or be separated from his 
Father, and will ultimately cross the Antaskarana in 
safety and dwell forever in the bosom of the Father. 
Then the abyss will no longer exist for him, for it has 
been swallowed up and he has become "the way, the 
truth and the life." 

The Spiritual Mind has its seat in the body at the 
Spiritual Heart, a secret point back of the breast, 
which corresponds to the physical heart ; the heart 
being the seat of physical life and the Spiritual Heart 
being the seat of the spiritual life. Its organ in the 
body is the pineal gland. 

The 6th Principle. The Christ-Principle or Spiritual 
Soul (Buddhi). 

Strictly speaking, the Spiritual Soul is the highest 
Principle, as the Divine Ray is no Principle, but an 
outpouring of the all-pervading and universal Essence 
of the 1 Flame, the Absolute, the Cause of all the 
Principles. Just as the Rational Mind is a vehicle 
for the Ray from the Spiritual Mind, so the Spiritual 
Soul is the vehicle for the Ray from the Divine. 
While it is generally classified as The Christ-principle 
this is more or less of an exoteric blind, for The Christ- 
principle is the Great Creative Principle or aspect of 
the Divine on all planes. It becomes the creator of 
spiritual differentiation only when individualized and 
manifesting through the Spiritual Soul and Spiritual 
Mind or Higher Self. It manifests in the Divine 
World as creative ideation, in the mental world as the 



266 The Key to the Universe 

creative power of thought and in the physical world 
as the power of fertilization or sex. 

The Spiritual Soul can have no manifestation or 
consciousness in the lower worlds except through the 
Spiritual Mind and its various Rays. When the Spir- 
itual Soul and the Spiritual Mind are blended and il- 
lumined by the Divine Ray they become the Divine 
Trinity, the Higher Self, or Reincarnating Ego. The 
Spiritual Soul stands to each of its expressions or 
personalities in the same relation that the Universal 
Soul stands to each individualized Spiritual Soul. It 
is not human but Divine and therefore immortal, "a 
Pillar of Light," an incarnation of 1 of the 7 Flames. 
It cannot complete its expression in the lower worlds 
and become a redeemer, however, until it clothes itself 
with and manifests through a human body. 

Its seat is not in the physical body, but in the astral 
body. It contacts the physical body directly only 
when the psychic center in the middle of the forehead 
— the radium center (Realization) — is awakened. 

The Jth Principle. The Divine or Atma. 

This is called the 7th Principle merely for purposes 
of exoteric classification, as it is not a Principle of 
Man, but a Ray of pure Spirit from the Absolute. It 
can contact the human body only as the higher astral 
centers are consciously awakened and then made sub- 
servient to reaching into the higher realms where the 
Divine holds sway. 

Just as the 7 notes of music are completed and syn- 
thesized in the 8th note, which leads into a new octave, 
so are the 7 Principles of Man synthesized in the Aura. 
This is sometimes called the 7th Principle, but in real- 
ity it is the synthesis of all, having a point of contact 
in each. 



CHAPTER 29 , 

THE 7 PLEIADES AND THE 7 RISHIS. 

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the 
Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" 

— Job, xxxviii, 31. 

"There I beheld seven stars, like great blazing 
mountains, and like spirits entreating me." 

— Book of Enoch, xviii, 14. 

The constellation Taurus, the Bull, contains over 
400 stars, among which there are said to be more bright 
stars than in any other constellation, and chief among 
which are the 7 Pleiades and their sisters the 5 Hyades. 
And since in every age this constellation has been a 
favorite theme for myth and allegory, we may well 
expect to find an important occult significance con- 
nected with it. 

One myth is that these 12 sisters saw their brother 
Hyas killed by a snake while hunting in Lybia. 1 They 
lamented his death so passionately that Zeus, out of 
compassion, translated them into stars — 5 into the 
Hyades in the head and 7 into the Pleiades in the neck 
of the Bull. The Hyades are called "the rainy ones" 
and the greatest importance is attached to this group 
when it rises at the same time as the sun, namely dur- 
ing the month of May, at which time the rainy season 
begins. We therefore find that among the ancients 
the Hyades represent the fertilizing principle of mois- 
ture. They symbolize the feminine or astral aspect of 
the 5 senses, which lament that their brother (the phy- 
sical senses) is so deadened by the snake of matter 
and the perversion of the creative powers, that they 
are cut off from him and must remain in the higher 

1 Fasti, Ovid, v, 165, 



268 The Key to the Universe 

realms ; that he can no longer commune with them 
except as he reaches up into the heaven world. They 
continually exert, however, the gentle moisture of their 
fertilizing principle which like dew falls from heaven 
or the astral world and helps man to find the 7 spir- 
itual senses represented by the Pleiades. The physi- 
cal and astral senses should be in such harmonious 
accord and development that when we see a physical 
object we should also see its astral counterpart; when 
we hear a physical sound we should also hear its astral 
expression, and so on with each of the other senses. 

Another myth has it that the 7 Pleiades and their 
mother met the hunter Orion 1 day in the woods. 
The sight of their beauty so inflamed his desires that 
for 5 years he pursued them through the dense forest, 
now losing sight of them and now seeing them flying 
before him. Finally Zeus in pity turned them into 
white doves which flew to heaven and were translated 
into stars, altho during the flight 1 dove was lost 
among the "wandering rocks." Homer in the Odyssey 
(xii, 6) alludes to them as "The doves who brought 
ambrosia from the West." Since doves always sym- 
bolize the Spirit, we have no difficulty in connecting 
the Pleiades with spiritual forces or the perfection and 
spiritualization of man's 7 senses. While the Spiritual 
Sun rises in the mystical East we are told that it must 
shine "even unto the West." And it is man who, by 
the unfoldment of his 7 spiritual senses, must bring 
back from the farthest point of manifestation (mat- 
ter) the ambrosia or sustenance of the gods with 
which to nourish his immortal body. 

Orion is represented in mythology as a giant with 
a girdle, a sword, a lion's skin and a club, while his 
dog Sirius follows him and the Pleiades fly before 
him. Orion here represents man in pursuit of the 
higher attainments of the spiritual senses. He is in- 



The / Pleiades and the J Rishis 269 

deed a giant girded with strength. A girdle is a sym- 
bol of a priestly office. Thus, when Aaron and his 
son were anointed as priests {Exodus xxxix, 29) they 
received the girdle of linen thread of 3 colors, blue, 
purple and scarlet, as does the Brahmin boy in India 
today when initiated into his caste. "As the Celtic 
word for a Belt is 'Crios,' so the Celtic name for Christ 
is 'Crios-d,' meaning 'Belt-God.' This Belt named all 
Druids, who were identified with the Sun and his con- 
tinuous activity. * * * All words like Belt, Gir-th, 
Ban-d and Gir-d name the same daily orbit of the 
sun, which in the picture-language costume of the 
Druids was the Gilded Belt." 2 The girdle is also a 
covenant of strength and represents the current of 
spiritual force which circles around man's body just 
below the breasts. Thus Isaiah says : "I will clothe 
him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy gir- 
dle" (xxii, 21). Again, "And righteousness shall be 
the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of 
his reins" (xi, 5). Also, the Son of Man who stood 
in the midst of the 7 candlesticks is described in Reve- 
lation (i, 13) as "Girt about the paps with a golden 
girdle." For when man can hold the 7 stars in his 
right hand, his girdle will be a visible current of spir- 
itual life-force passing through his heart, through the 
life-center in the right breast and through the center 
of illumination in the spinal cord opposite the heart. 

The sword of Orion symbolizes the power of man's 
dominion over the earth, obtained by fighting and 
struggling with the density of physical conditions. 
This is the Sword of the Spirit through whose right 
use man may win his way back to his former high 
spiritual estate in Eden. The lion symbolizes spiritual 
courage, strength and love, the only forces — repre- 
sented by the Lion of the tribe of Judah — found worthy 
to open the seals of the Great Book of Life {Revelation 

2 The Jarvis Letters, Chapter xi. 



270 The Key to the Universe 

v, 5). We have already explained the aspect of man 
represented by the lion, 3 but Orion represents man as 
he is today with his 5 fold development, forever pur- 
suing- his 7 spiritual powers with eager passion, yet 
never quite able to attain them. Hence, instead of 
having attained the real, inner powers of the lion, he 
is able to manifest only their lower or outer expres- 
sion, i. e., the lion's skin. In other words, with cour- 
age, strength and love man persistently follows the 
flashing wings of the spiritual doves through the sha- 
dows of the forest of life, yet because his courage 
partakes of recklessness, his strength is tainted with 
cruelty and his love inflamed by passion he never fully 
attains, and will not until he, too, finds his place in 
the heaven world. Orion's club symbolizes man's 
physical power and personal will. For, alas, man too 
often hopes to claim his heritage through mere physi- 
cal prowess and personal will, instead of by the use 
of the Sword of Spirit. His dog Sirius represents 
man's animal nature, trained to keep its appointed 
place; for like a faithful dog it should follow where 
man leads and be his friend and helper. As Orion 
unsuccessfully pursues the heavenly doves for 5 years, 
so will man unsuccessfully pursue his higher spiritual 
attainments through the 5 periods during which his 
physical senses rule. Only when his 6th and 7th 
senses begin to unfold and Zeus transforms him into a 
star and he enters the heavenly realms, will he find the 
doves. 

The Pleiades appear in the Northern heavens at the 
beginning of Spring, and wield a mighty influence 
over the earth and its inhabitants. Not only do we 
find Job recognizing the power of their influence, but 
it was generally taught by the ancient Sages that this 
group ruled over the 7 Races and sub-races of man- 
kind, determining also the great changes which ac- 

s See lesson The Great Book, Part I. 



The 7 Pleiades and the / Rishis 271 

company the beginnings and endings of the racial and 
planetary cycles. 

The Hottentots worship the Pleiades, celebrating 
their annual appearance above the Eastern horizon 
with great rejoicing. As soon as the constellation ap- 
pears all the mothers, with their children, ascend the 
nearest hill and teach the children to stretch out their 
arms toward the friendly stars. They also worship 
the Hyades under the name Tusib, the Rain God. They 
call the stars the Souls of the deceased. 

According to the Greek legend the Pleiades are the 
7 daughters of Atlas and Pleione. 4 In 1 version, all 
save Merope married gods and became mothers of the 
famous heroes who founded cities, nations and sub- 
races. Merope married a mortal (Sisyphus) and hence 
is said to hide her head in shame. 

"They are * * * regarded by Madler and 
others, in Astronomy, as the central group of the 
system of the Milky Way. * * * The Plei- 
ades (Alcyone, especially) are thus considered, 
even in Astronomy, as the central point around 
which our universe of fixed stars revolves, the 
focus from which, and into which, the Divine 
Breath, Motion, works incessantly during the 
Manvantara." 5 

These influences, however, must always be consid- 
ered in connection with their positive aspects or execu- 
tors, the 7 stars in the constellation Ursa Major or the 
Great Bear. 

"There were two constellations with seven stars 
each. We call them the Two Bears. But the 
stars of the Lesser Bear were once considered to 
be the seven heads of the Polar Dragon. * * * 
In Egypt the Great Bear was the constellation of 
Typhon." 6 

These stars are called the Sapta Rishi or 7 
Rishis. 7 Altho Ursa Major was catalogued by Ptole- 

* Their names are Maia, Electra, Taygeta, Alcyone, Celeno, Sterope 
and Merope. 

6 5. D., II, 582. 
" S. D. 

7 Their names are Amba, Dula, Nitatni, Abrayanti, Mahayanti, Var- 
shayanti and Chupunika. 



272 The Key to the Universe 

my as having 8 stars and by Hevelius as having 12, 
nevertheless its 7 brightest stars constitute 1 of the 
most characteristic figures in the Northern sky, and 
are called by the Hindus "the husbands of the Pleia- 
des." The fact that so many of the ancient writers 
mentioned only the Pleiades, the Rishis, the Hyades 
and Orion, led modern astronomers for a long time 
to believe that these were the only constellations known 
in those ancient days. But recent scientific discoveries 
are corroborating so many of the old myths, legends 
and allegories, that it is easily understood that only 
these groups were mentioned by the ancients, because 
these were of the greatest importance from a mystical 
and occult standpoint. Modern research has plainly 
shown that the stars surrounding us do not constitute 
a simple, but a double system ; a fact that was well 
known to the Sages. For it has been shown that 
many stars widely separated and apparently belonging 
to separate systems, are mysteriously related to each 
other, especially the Pleiades and the Great Bear. "It 
seems difficult to account for the very remarkable and 
unsystematized distribution of the motions, unless we 
suppose that the stars form two more or less separate 
systems superimposed ; and it has been found possible 
by assuming two drifts with suitably assigned veloci- 
ties to account very satisfactorily for the observed 
motions." 8 During the present Iron Age it is the 
masculine, positive force of these Rishis that has been 
dominant, rather than the fenjinine force of the Pleia- 
des. For the influence of the Pleiades is exerted less 
upon the immediate events in the mundane sphere than 
upon the higher planes, yet it is always the feminine 
force which brings forth the great changes which ap- 
pear on earth as the dominance of the cycle of 1 sub- 
race gives place to the next. For corresponding rea- 
sons, during this cycle only the masculine Masters of 

" Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. XXV, 79. 



The 7 Pleiades and the 7 Rishis 273 

Wisdom manifest in earth conditions, the feminine 
Masters working in the higher realms. 

"Meanwhile it is the seven Rishis who mark 
the time and duration of events in our septenary 
Life-cycle. They are as mysterious as their sup- 
posed wives, the Pleiades." 9 

In fact, it is largely the positive and negative powers 
emanating from these 2 constellations that give to 
number 7 its mystical significance. 

"Again number 7 is closely connected with the 
Occult significance of the Pleiades * * * the 6 visible, 
or the 7 actual sisters, the Pleiades, are needed 
for the completion of this most secret and mys- 
terious of all astronomical and religious sym- 
bols." 10 

The importance of this constellation in laying the 
foundation of the universe is illustrated in the book 
of Job 11 when Saturn, the Great Initiator, demands of 
the candidate the mystery-questions which will reveal 
his knowledge of the secret cycles and the spiritual 
significance of the influences emanating from the Maz- 
zaroth (zodiac). The ability to understand, correlate 
with and bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades is 
there indicated as a necessary requirement for Initia- 
tion of both man and the planet. As the Pleiades are 
connected with the closing of cycles — as their number 
7, perfection, indicates — they have to do with the tests 
which each Soul must pass ere it can evolve out of 1 
cycle of spiritual unfoldment into the next. Hence 
to "bind" their influence means that the candidate 
must have gained the power to face the Karma of his 
old or closing cycle and successfully pass through the 
changes which the steps of Initiation inevitably bring. 
This power is gained by assimilating the sweet influ- 
ences of love, compassion, faith, intrepidity, action, 
patience and devotion focused by the Pleiades. 

• S. D., II, 579. u xxxvii-viii-ix. 

10 5. D., II, 654-5. 



274 The Key to the Universe 

By the Hindus the Pleiades are called the nurses of 
the planet Mars, the Commander of the Celestial 
Armies. 

"In India they are connected with their nurs- 
ling, the war God, Karttikeya. It was the Plei- 
ades (in Sanskrit, Krittikas) who gave this name 
to the God, Karttikeya being the planet Mars, 
astronomically." 12 

This should give to the student of astrology an in- 
sight into the deeper significance of that greatly ma- 
ligned planet Mars ; for as the Commander of the 
Celestial Armies we must look to his influence for the 
courage, fortitude, strength and the dauntless energy 
that will carry us on to final victory. In fact the true 
mystic teachings in regard to that planet will be re- 
vealed to man only when the 7th Sister comes from her 
hiding and begins to unroll the scroll of the 7th Great 
Race. 

The allegory of Niobe, the sudden death of whose 
7 sons and 7 daughters — symbolizing the 7 sub-races 
of the Atlanteans and their 7 branches — also refers to 
the cataclysms which occur at the close of the great 
Race cycles, for she was a daughter of 1 of the Pleia- 
des. 

Investigation by modern astronomers has confirmed 
the occult teaching that at the time the Pyramid of 
Cheops was built the Pleiades were directly overhead. 
These were the forces drawn upon by the Giants who 
accomplished that work over 31,000 years ago. 

According to Stinson Jarvis : "The 7 branches of 
the (Druid) Church and the accompanying colonies 
were recorded through the descent from the 7 Daugh- 
ters who named the stars of the Pleiades. The reader 
will remember that the great Fire Signal which exhib- 
ited the deity's Consent for further life on earth was 
not given until the Pleiades were exactly overhead in 

» S. D., II, 654. 



The 7 Pleiades and the 7 Rishis 275 

the night sky. The constellation was a center of the 
priestly heavens, and had the most honorable position, 
on the neck of the constellation TAURus, who rep- 
resented the BULL and Thunder-god of England. 
* * * and when Homer names this famous con- 
stellation, he writes the name to make it fit the metre, 
as TE. LE. IA. DES," using the whole word PE, to 
make another syllable, and also to name the DOVE 
which was always the name of Venus and the sign of 
divine LO.Ve. The Druid college which prepared the 
missionaries was on the island called the Island Dove 
of Heaven, and the Greek name of the Dove or Pigeon 
was specially made as PELEIA, and Homer's writing 
it as PELEIA-DES names these stars as the 'Dove 
Gods,' or Priests because all Druid missions carried 
a message of Love, referred to in Job as the sweet 
influences of these stars. 

"The geographical uses of the Peleia-Des were 
partly as follows : The 7 parts of the early church, as 
spread out over the world, were here named and pic- 
tured in one cluster; each S.T.AR or 'Sign of 
Honor' (Anglian AR, 'Honour'), being named as a 
Daughter. These Daughters are married to the male 
British deities who name our week days, and they 
bear children whose names are the patronymics or 
father-names of great and well-known peoples, such 
as Dardanus, Lacedaemon, etc. ; and in this way it 
becomes clear that the whole arrangement about to 
be described was a part of the memory systems which 
the Druids and their Branch priests used to record 
all kinds of information. * * * It was the inven- 
tion and memory-system of the one Church, the one 
Candlestick of Seven Branches, which as a picture 
was not exclusively Hebraic. As we know that the 
Pleiades were held sacred from Peru to Java, and that 
these 7 stars received the names of the 7 branches of 



276 The Key to the Universe 

the church, it is clear that the system embraced the 
earth." 13 

With all this symbolic myth and legend we must 
conclude that the sweet influences of the Pleiades are 
something that every Soul should expect as a part of 
its heritage. But they can be attained only when the 
Soul is able to face the Great Initiator Saturn and 
answer his questions, "Canst thou bind the sweet influ- 
ences of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?" 
Those sweet influences can never be ours until we can 
loose the bands which hold us to the limitations of the 
personality. In fact it is the loosing of these bands 
which is the great purpose of evolution, and which is 
indicated by the digits from 1 to 9. Only when we 
reach number 9 and face our Initiation and success- 
fully answer these questions can we become more 
than man. 



18 The Jarvis Letters, Chapter viii. 



CHAPTER 30 
THE 7th letter, Zain (f) 

"He produced Zain, predominant in Movement, 
crowned it, combined and formed it with Gemini 
in the Universe, Sivan (June) in the Year, and 
the left foot of Man." — Sepher Yetzirah, 24. 

The 7th letter, Zain (Z), is 1 of the simple letters 
and is connected with the sign Gemini. Its radical 
meaning is a "sword" or "weapon," while hieroglyph- 
ically it means an "arrow," both the meanings suggest- 
ing the idea of conquest. Just as number 7 is the 
perfection of the 1st great step or period in man's cycle 
of unfoldment, so this letter indicates that the forces 
represented by the letters we have already studied 
have reached the end of the 1st arcana, the outbreath- 
ing of the 1st mother letter, air, and have laid down 
certain principles which are shown in action by the 
letter Zain. 

Zain represents man when he has reached a step 
where he can understand the underlying principles of 
life, and by the power of his perfected manhood grasp 
them in his hand as a weapon with which to carve his 
own destiny. Only so can he rule, for the meaning 
of Zain is also a "scepter." At this step in his per- 
fected manhood man must become a conqueror, with 
the kingly ability to rule 1st himself then all nature, 
and with the power to defend, preserve and use the 
mystical weapon bestowed upon every Victor, namely, 
the Sword of the Spirit, or the "Fiery Sword" of the 
magician. 

Thus Zain is the fulfillment or perfection of that 
which was breathed out by the mother Aleph, for the 



278 The Key to the Universe 

Victory of number 7 is attained by a complete mas- 
tery of the breath. The words that are spoken must 
be words of love and words of healing. The Victor 
who holds the Sword or Weapon Zain in his hand 
must have gained absolute control of his speech. For 
in 1 sense this weapon is the mighty weapon of the 
tongue, to which so many allusions are made in the 
Bible. In Psalms (lvii, 4) we read: "Whose teeth 
are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp 
sword." Again, "Who whet their tongue like a sword 
and shoot out their arrows, even bitter words." And 
again in Proverbs (xii, 18), "There is that speaketh 
like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the 
wise is health." Again, "Death and life are in the 
power of the tongue." Also at the Great Initiation 
we hear Job asking, "Is there iniquity in my tongue ?" 
Hence it is quite fitting that, as the manifestations of 
the 1st septenary may be called the children of the 1st 
mother, Aleph (air), they should be completed and the 
Victory gained by a Mastery of the tongue. 

As we have said elsewhere : "Speech is one of the 
greatest powers, for it includes the powers of sound, 
number, color and, when written, form. * * * To 
bring to your minds some of the practical effects of 
this power, we would ask you for one day to note 
carefully the effect your words have on those about 
you. Many pupils ask for something practical to do 
to develop occult powers and manifest the higher life. 
Noting the effect of your words is practical and most 
important, and a practice which can be indulged in 
without fear of dangerous consequences. And until 
at least some conception of the power of speaking 
kindly and lovingly but to some purpose and some 
degree of mastery over it has been attained, the devel- 
opment of other occult powers will be retarded if not 
actually prevented." 1 

* V. of I., 174-5. 



The 7th Letter, Zain 279 

The relation of Zain to the sign Gemini is in the 
idea that Gemini rules the arms and represents also 
the masculine and feminine qualities combined. Only- 
he who has raised his arms in blessing and has blended 
the masculine and feminine qualities within himself 
can be called the victor over the power of the tongue. 
Another aspect of Gemini is the 2 opposing forces to 
which man in his unregenerate state is bound, as St. 
Paul said: "When I would do good, behold evil is 
present with me." Hence the Victor must have found 
the perfect blending of these pairs of opposites and 
must know how to use them to help on his further 
advance, the ability to accomplish which is symbolized 
by the arms. "When thou hast passed into the Sev- 
enth, O happy one, thou shalt perceive no more the 
sacred Three, for thou shalt have become that Three 
thyself." 2 

2 The Voice of the Silence, Blavatsky, 19. 



THE 7th TAROT CARD 

THE CHARIOT 





MEDIEVAL 






EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



The yth Tarot Card 281 

the 7th tarot card, The Chariot. 

In the Tarot the 7th card is called The Chariot, and 
is represented by a conqueror crowned with a coronet, 
composed of 3 pentagrams of gold. He stands in a 
chariot having the form of a cubic stone, having over 
him an azure canopy supported by 4 columns, and 
having 14 stars over his head. He has 3 right angles 
upon his breast, and upon his shoulders the Urim and 
Thummin, represented by 2 crescent moons, 1 on 
either side. He carries in his right hand a scepter 
surmounted by a globe, a square and a triangle. In 
his left hand he has a fiery sword. Upon the square 
front of his chariot is a lingam and the winged sphere 
of the Egyptians, while 2 sphinxes, 1 black and 1 
white, draw the chariot, each straining in an opposite 
direction yet both looking toward the right and under 
the absolute control of the driver. 

This card symbolizes the main characteristics of the 
sacred septenary. It represents man who has become 
the Conqueror, master both of himself and the ele- 
ments, making the cube — now become the Philoso- 
pher's Stone — his chariot ; the heavens his canopy ; 
the 2 sphinxes — the forces of the Great Agent, black 
and white magic — his servants to bear him onward. 
His cuirass is the "breastplate of righteousness" or his 
knowledge of the manifestations of the Divine which 
makes him invulnerable to assaults from either the 
human or elemental kingdoms. The Urim and Thum- 
mim upon his shoulders indicate his priestly power to 
answer all questions through direct inspiration from 
the Divine. The globe on the scepter, surmounted 
by the square and triangle, indicates the 7 fold powers 
of man arising from the O- The scepter corresponds 
to the Magic Wand mentioned above, while the Fiery 
Sword is the "Sword of the Spirit" with which he has 
gained the Victory. 



282 The Key to the Universe 

THE 7TH COMMANDMENT. 

7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery." 

— Exodus, xx, 14. 

Since we know that number 7 is the Number of 
Perfection, especially that perfection of humanity 
which will prevail when, through the power of num- 
ber 6 the 5 senses have evolved into the 7, we can 
readily understand that to commit adultery has a far 
greater significance than the 1 generally ascribed to 
it. For to adulterate is to add some foreign and infe- 
rior substance to the thing adulterated. Also a thing 
is said to be adulterated when not absolutely pure and 
exactly what it purports to be. 

It has been the custom to confine this 7th Command- 
ment exclusively to the creative functions ; but, while 
we concede the importance of obeying its literal mean- 
ing, still we must not make the mistake of confining 
it solely to that meaning. 

The fact that 7 is the Number of Perfection and yet 
deals with the creative powers of man is, to say the 
least, significant. A perfect humanity is 1 in which 
the creative powers have not been adulterated, but 
while fully functioning and under the absolute con- 
trol of the Will are used in love, purity and wisdom 
to create that which is needful, unadulterated by lust or 
any of the lower carnal desires, and with a full recogni- 
tion that the Great Creative Force is creative on all 
planes, and that it becomes sex-force only when it 
functions through the sex centers. And as we are 
responsible for the use of that great Force through 
all the centers, it must be kept pure and unadulterated 
if we would conquer death and the grave. In itself 
it is the mightiest agent entrusted to humanity; in 
fact, its use is the great test of the humanity of this 
globe. In its true esoteric significance it is so far 



The yth Commandment 283 

above man's present conception of it that only as he 
evolves the 6th and 7th senses can he understand 
and master all its possibilities. Mankind of today, in 
dense ignorance of its divine origin and purpose, is 
wallowing in the mire created by the perversion of its 
lowest aspect. Only when we know, really know, its 
true essence and functions, through our own divine 
illumination, and have tested and proven them from 
experience ; in fact, only when we have been able to 
look this mighty problem in the face with a pure heart 
and an understanding mind and know it in its pure 
and unadulterated state, can we take the 7th step. We 
must create each step ere we can take it, and if we con- 
fine the Great Creative Force to its functions in the 
flesh, we live in the flesh. And so long as we presume 
to judge the God who made us and gave us this force, 
and say that all use of the creative force is evil and 
belongs only to the unregenerate man, we must re- 
main unregenerate ; for we have turned our backs on 
the very power given us to bring about our regenera- 
tion and create our next step. Therefore, let us cease 
to adulterate our conceptions of this Divine Power 
with the misconceptions which have their origin in 
ignorance, asceticism, fear, prudery and the self- 
righteous thought that we are better able to judge of 
what is pure than the God who made us, and use for 
their highest ends all the powers given us. Nor must 
we adulterate the Divine Wisdom handed down 
throughout the ages. Only thus can we truly obey the 
7th Commandment. 

Since we never try to kill anything that we do not 
consider harmful or vile, the very fact that the unen- 
lightened place this mighty force at the head of all 
evil things and give it over to what they are pleased to 
term the Devil, helps to make the Devil an actual en- 
tity, built up through the ages by man's perverted 



284 The Key to the Universe 

thought forces, and vivified and strengthened daily by 
the votive offerings of those who create him out of the 
very forces which should make man a god. Is it any 
wonder, then, that the Devil lives and thrives and ex- 
erts a vile, degenerating and disintegrating influence 
upon mankind? For every outpouring of life-force 
which the unenlightened mind of man brands as vile, 
goes to prolong the life and strengthen the powers of 
"the devil and his angels." For the thought of evil 
creates evil thought-forms, hence that power given to 
man with which to reach divinity, which should bring 
him to number 7 and make him perfect even as his 
Father in heaven is perfect, has been adulterated and 
used to bring about imperfection and death. 

Therefore, until we learn the real essence of this 
7th Commandment by heart, and exemplify it in 
thought and life, the Angel with the Flaming Sword 
will forever bar us from returning to our spiritual 
home in the Garden of Eden, 



CHAPTER 31 

THE NUMBER 8. 

"Where is thy individuality, Lanoo, where the 

Lanoo himself? It is the spark lost in the 

fire, the drop within the ocean, the ever present 

ray become the All and the eternal Radiance." 

— The Voice of the Silence, Blavatsky, 20-1. 

Number 8 is the Number of Evolution and is con- 
nected with the spiral motion of cycles. It is the 
Number of the inevitable and onward rush of Time. 
Its symbol is the hour glass, also the balance. It is 
also the Winged Globe of the Egyptians and the Bird 
of Life of the Hindus which carries man from the 
realm of earth (the lower o of the 8) to the higher 
realms (the upper o of the 8). 

According to Stinson Jarvis : "Our word E I G H-T 
names the Horse-God (his Celtic name is EIGH) 
and the eight hours. * * * These eight HOR- 
Ses, or Hour-Signs, are still shown harnessed abreast, 
in the carvings of Java which illustrate our D A Y- 
god's car. * * * The Eigh-T chambers name the 
eight Hours, eight H O R-Ses, eight notes, eight di- 
visions of the compass, and- every other eight or the 
O C-T, or Oak-God, who is 'O C T,' or Eight. * * * 
The same naming of the Eight-god, or O C-T, was 
continued in the great tower and temple of B-E-Lus 
in Babylon. * * * This was divided into Eight 
separate towers. * * * The Greeks have two O's, 
naming the sun as the 'Great O,' or O-MEGA, and 
the moon called O-micron, or Circle Small. * * * 
These two O's name the Sun and Moon on which all 
time calculations were made; and the Oak God, or 



286 The Key to the Universe 

OC-T, was supposed to be both of them in one. Con- 
sequently, he was fully named by the figure 8, and 
OC-T, OCH-D and OCH-T name Eight in the Celtic, 
Gaelic, Latin and Greek. * * * Therefore we see 
that they were all the one deity under different names, 
but fully represented by the figure 8, which shows the 
small Moon above the large Sun, or the o-mi-cron 
above the O-mega, and thus names the deity who was 
both Moon and Sun in one. Father Smiddy wonders 
why the Druids seem to pay such deep respect to num- 
ber Eight ; but this proceeded from their science, be- 
cause their service of praise was nearly all vibrational, 
to produce unity of mind through song, and the 'Oc 
God Song,' or OC-T-AVe, was composed of Eight 
notes." x 

Many writers give to number 8 a most sinister 
interpretation. They attribute to it all that is 
unfortunate — imperfection, privation, loss, ruin, decay, 
corruption and death. While it may present such as- 
pects, they are fearsome only to those who do not 
know the meaning and object of evolution, those who 
refuse to face conditions which the Great Law brings 
for their instruction and unfoldment. For evolution 
means ever becoming. That which has fulfilled its 
cycle of manifestation must give place to something 
higher ; that which is imperfection, because only "in 
part," must be superseded by the more and more per- 
fect. The less evolved forms of life suffer the lack of 
only that which must be the ultimate result of the step, 
as the child is deprived of the ripe wisdom of the man, 
altho it has all the faculties by which to acquire that 
wisdom in the course of growth. That which is lost 
is that out of which the law of evolution has absorbed 
the life-force, as a rind of an orange is thrown away 
when the substance of the orange is extracted. Ruin, 
decay, corruption and death are all phases of life ex- 

1 The Jarvis Letters, x, v. 



The Number 8 287 

pression. The rind of an orange may decay, become 
corrupt, and seemingly die, yet the life substance in it 
is reabsorbed by the elements, from which there will 
again be evolved a new form of life. "For we know 
in part, and we prophesy in part, but when that which 
is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be 
done away." 2 To those who bestride the Bird of Life 
and boldly face each step in evolution, no matter what 
it may hold for them, number 8 is the symbol of the 
Good Law. 

"The wheel of the Good Law moves swiftly 
on. It grinds by night and day. The worthless 
husks it drives from out the golden grain, the 
refuse from the flour. The hand of Karma guides 
the wheel; the revolutions mark the beatings of 
the karmic heart." 8 

Since evolution can advance only by reaping that 
which is sown, number 8 is a perfect symbol of Bal- 
ance or cause and effect. It is the Number of the 
ceaseless Breath of the Cosmos, the outbreathing and 
inbreathing by which the equilibrium of the Soul is 
attained. It breathes into man the ideals from the 
higher spheres and draws up from the lower spheres 
of personality his lower ideals. Man's ideals are 
therefore but the divine ideals deformed and colored 
by his limited conception and understanding of them, 
just as man breathes in pure air, and breathes out the 
same air tainted and more or less polluted by the vola- 
tile waste products of his system. According to the 
health and purity of his body is man's outgoing breath 
pure and sweet. And according to his oneness with 
his Higher Self and the purity of his thoughts, can 
man breathe out or manifest the ideals indrawn from 
the higher realms. 

The path of the psychic breath in the body forms 
a perfect figure 8. This, however, must be understood 

* I Corinthians, xiii, 9-10. * The Voice of the Silence, 28. 



288 The Key to the Universe 

from its esoteric aspect, for there are many mysteries 
connected with the breath, all of which pertain to 
man's evolution. 

In number 4 we have squared and laid our corner- 
stone, as far as our physical expression is concerned, 
and in number 7 have erected our Temple of the Liv- 
ing God, and are now ready to inaugurate the priestly 
office in it, by means of which we are enabled to enter 
into the higher circle of number 8 where, behold ! all 
things to us become new ; in short, we are now ready 
to die to the old, for which reason the Ancients called 
number 8 death. But like so-called physical death, 
this death is but an evolution into a higher state of 
life. Another conception of number 8 is that of the 
perpetual and regular flow of the life currents of the 
universe, the evil being consumed to make way for the 
good. If we find a bad crop this season, we plow it 
under and sow a better crop next season, thus working 
with the Law of Eternal Motion or Evolution, toward 
ultimate completion. 

The Gnostic teachings postulate 7 interpenetrating 
spheres surrounded by an 8th, which is composed of 
the left-overs or unredeemed forces left behind by the 
7 fold chain of spheres in their onward rush of evolu- 
tion. This 8th sphere is 1 of absolute darkness, hence 
is often called the "dark star," and its motion is so 
much slower than the earth-chain to which it belongs 
that it greatly retards that chain's progress. It is out 
of this 8th sphere that, at the dawn of the next great 
world-period, the materials will be gathered to form 
a new 7 fold earth-chain, just as the 8th note 
in music, while a repetition of the 1st, is never- 
theless the beginning of a newer and higher 
octave. This process is alluded to in the teach- 
ings of the Gnostic Marcus, as follows : "Now 
the motion of these seven spheres is exceedingly rapid, 



The Number 8 289 

whereas the eighth sphere is much slower than the 
motion of the seven mutually interpenetrating spheres, 
and as it were balances [the Balance of number 8] or 
checks their otherwise too rapid motion by pressure on 
their periphery." 4 

Number 8 may be compared to a power belt which 
transmits the power from the drive-wheel of the engine 
to the power-wheel of a machine. And curiously 
enough such belts are usually crossed in the exact 
shape of a figure 8. Nearly all symbols or objects 
having the shape of number 8 convey the fundamental 
idea of evolution, i. e., the transmission of the force of 
1 cycle or form into the next higher expression. 

It is at the point of crossing over, therefore, that we 
must expect to meet the dread Dweller on the Thres- 
hold who will bar our way until our courage has been 
proved. Only fortitude and determination at this step 
can prove that we have learned the lessons of the 
lower wheel and have demonstrated our fitness to pass 
on and receive the Initiation which must precede our 
entrance into number 9. This is the crucifixion, or 
the dying upon the cross of the personality, that 
The Christ, the only begotten Son of God, may rise 
and sit forever at the right hand of his Father. Only 
by the way of this cross, Via Cruris, can man become 
more than man. 

The Dweller who awaits us at this threshold of our 
New Life is the synthesis of all those mistakes and 
unredeemed creations which we have pushed behind 
us during our struggle to reach the Perfection of num- 
ber 7. For in our lower evolution there are many 
things which we have not the strength completely to 
conquer. Yet we progress in spite of them, for such 
things are mercifully held back until we grow to spir- 
itual manhood. But ere we can pass this crucial step 
we must meet and redeem them in the person of our 

* Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, Mead, 379. 



290 The Key to the Universe 

"Dweller" on the threshold of the new life, just as they 
await us in a lesser degree at every new step upon the 
Path. But here they must be faced, recognized, con- 
quered and transmuted ere we can enter the O °f the 
higher evolution. 

By some writers this Dweller is described as a 
frightful monster of so terrible a mein that at sight of 
him the candidate is either paralyzed by fear or in rare 
cases is driven mad from horror. This occurs, how- 
ever, only in extreme cases where the pupil has failed 
to conquer fear during the earlier steps or where he 
has persistently denied all evil and refused to face and 
recognize his faults and failings, hence has made no 
effort to redeem them. But the student who has lived 
close to Divine Love and who has recognized his power 
to redeem his creations, will have little to fear at this 
step; for by the recognition of the power of The 
Christ within the student has learned how gradually 
to redeem the Dweller in his daily steps along the 
Path ; in fact, has grown familiar with his face, hence 
is not appalled. He knows that he can conquer all 
that his evolution brings to him. 

Many students are puzzled to know how they will 
meet the Dweller or know when they are upon the 
Threshold of Initiation, but there are many experi- 
ences which, to 1 who is truly watching, will indicate 
it, and many ways to meet the Dweller will appear. 
Some have a symbolic dream or vision, or an expe- 
rience in life itself brings it to their recognition. 
1 student relates that he had the following dream : He 
dreamed he stood before a small entrance which 
seemed to lead into a vast Hall. He was eager to 
enter, but at the door stood a monstrous Giant with 
drawn sword barring the entrance. Seated near the 
doorway behind a small table was a huge Mongolian 
noble. The student sought to enter, but the Door- 



The Number 8 291 

keeper demanded a fee. On asking how much he was 
to pay, the student was told 70 cents. He handed the 
Doorkeeper 75 cents, but the Mongolian would not 
let him in until he had paid the exact amount, telling 
him it was impossible to pay more than was demanded. 
Then the Giant lowered his sword and let the student 
enter. The symbology here is very plain, for 70 
cents symbolized 7 complete cycles of 10. And only 
when the candidate for Initiation can give to the Door- 
keeper the value of 7 complete cycles can he enter the 
Narrow Gate which is the crossing point of number 8. 

1 fault which gives the Dweller great power, and 
which is a great shock when 1st realized by the candi- 
date, is self-righteousness and spiritual pride. The 
person whose Dweller has been built up through the 
grosser sins of selfishness, greed, drunkenness, lust, 
etc., knows all along that he is violating the Law and 
rather expects to pay the penalty some time; in fact, 
has in all probability had many glimpses of his Dweller 
and knows full well it is his own creation, hence is 
not so appalled at his handiwork when seen in full. He 
is therefore far more ready to recognize it as his own 
creation than the self-righteous person who has lived 
so long in his artificial sanctity that he cannot believe 
the Dweller to be his. 

Once having successfully faced the Dweller and 
entered the higher circle of evolution in number 8, 
we now meet Saturn, the great Tester and Initiator, 
whose number is 9. "For Satan (Saturn) is the mag- 
istrate of the Justice of God (Karma) ; he beareth 
the balance and the sword. For to him are committed 
Weight and Measure and Number." 5 The Initiator 
should not be confused with the Dweller, for the 
latter is an entity of our own creation, while the Initi- 
ator is 1 of the Elohim or Sons of God spoken of by 
Job. He 1st appears to us as grim Death, the Reaper, 

5 Book of Hermes, quoted by Kingsford. Appendix of The Perfect 
Way. 



292 The Key to the Universe 

but as such he comes 1st to teach us to conquer fear, 
and 2nd that we may prove to ourselves the power 
of man, uplifted and sustained by the Divine within, 
to conquer even Death; to prove that there is no 
death ; for if we rest in the 1 Life, the Divine Breath 
manifesting through number 8 will sweep us safely 
past this point of crossing. "Perfect love casteth out 
fear," hence long ere we reach this step we should have 
learned "in whom we trust." Then is death swallowed 
up in Victory. 

If we do find the spiral of evolution, like number 8, 
manifesting to us decay and dissolution, this merely 
proves that only as the old and useless husks decay 
can the seed sprout and bring forth. It is ruin only 
in the sense that the breaking of the shell by the evolv- 
ing sprout means ruin. Only as the shell is broken 
can the kernel of the nut be extracted. Number 8 
should not be regarded as privation, imperfection, 
corruption or loss, except as we gladly lose the lower 
or lesser to obtain the higher and greater, or just as 
a child breaks and ruins or is deprived of its old toys 
when the time comes in its evolution to take up the 
serious business of life. Here we gladly lay aside the 
old thoughts, the old bonds of flesh, even our old ideas 
and beliefs, especially the thought of our greatness 
and power; the ability of the unaided personality to 
meet and conquer all physical conditions. For only 
as these old conceptions fall away from us 1 by 1, 
decay and return to their original elements, are we 
ready to pass through the Narrow Gate and be weighed 
in the Balance of Perfect Justice. 



CHAPTER 32 

the number 8 — (Continued). 

"My heart, my mother — may there be no part- 
ing of thee from me in the presence of him that 
keepeth the Balance." — Book of the Dead, Budge, 
xciv-v. 

The effect of number 8 may be compared to that of 
a Balance in which the Soul must be weighed. This 
balance was an important symbol among the Egypt- 
ians. "The Vignette of Chapter xxx of the Book of 
the Dead represents the deceased sitting in one pan 
of the scales and being weighed against his heart which 
is placed in the other." In another Vignette "we see 
the heart of the deceased in one pan of the balance, and 
a feather, emblematic of Right and Truth i. e., 'what 
is straight,' in the other." 1 In fact, in its ancient form 
number 8 ( oo ) resembles a balance. 

In number 7 man (5) attains his 2 higher faculties 
and sees himself not as a 5 fold personality, but as a 7 
fold Being made in the image of the 7 Elohim. But in 
number 8 he must see himself not even as a perfected 
personality, but one with the Universe of Being. Here 
he must of his own free-will throw into the scales all 
that he has attained and put it to the test, just as the 
alchemist who, after long and laborious efforts has 
obtained his gold, will 1st put it to the acid test to see 
if it is indeed gold, then cast it into the scales to be 
weighed ere he can truly say, "I have attained." The 
very personality we have so laboriously perfected in 
number 7 must now be left behind. Our own power, 
our judgment, our self-reliance, our own guidance, 
all these are necessary that we may recognize and 
understand the greatness of the self we have perfected, 

1 Book of the Dead, Budge, xciv-v. 



294 The Key to the Universe 

yet having completed the cycle of limitation within that 
lower self, we must now lay it aside as we would lay 
the body aside in the grave, and face our Initiator 
ere we can evolve into the upper o of the 8, the Higher 
Self. 

But number 8 is more than a Balance, it is the puri- 
fying Flame of the Divine Breath which sweeps round 
the Soul to consume its dross, and only that which is 
pure gold can withstand it. 

Pythagoras calls number 8 the 1st evenly even num- 
ber, for both sides of the balance must be made equal 
or there must be a cubic stone (4) on each side of the 
scale ; in other words, in number 8 we must find perfect 
balance. St. Paul tells us to "Prove all things; hold 
fast that which is good," which is but another way 
of saying weigh, measure and test. But the student 
does not have to create his own tests. All he has to 
do is to strengthen his will, quicken his love and be 
ready for all that comes ; for life itself will bring the 
tests. We therefore warn all students who are seeking 
the balance which precedes Initiation, not to be over 
enthusiastic or rash in asking for tests. Do not demand 
that all your Karma descend upon you all at once, 
even in 1 life. Just rest in the knowledge that the 
Great Law is Divine Love, hence the fires of puri- 
faction will be no hotter than you can bear, provided 
you let the loving Christ walk with you in the fiery 
furnace of purification and testing. Many prolong 
this period of weighing and testing by the pride they 
take in being able to pass through it so bravely. Since 
pride and personality are the 2 things which most 
require purging from the Soul, and since number 8 
is Absolute Justice, of necessity the fires must be made 
the hotter until these impurities are consumed. 

The crossing point in number 8 is the valley between 
2 attainments, the valley between the Mount of Cruci- 



The Number 8 — (Continued) 295 

fixion and the Mount of Ascension, the Valley of the 
Shadow of Death spoken of by the Psalmist: "Yea, 
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 
death, I will fear no evil (the Dweller) ; for thou art 
with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." 2 It 
is only the Rod of Power — the power of The Christ — 
and the Staff of the 1 Life that can carry the candi- 
date safely through this deep experience. For those 
who are filled with spiritual pride this is the Valley of 
Humiliation, for ere they can make this great transi- 
tion their pride in their spiritual superiority and 
righteousness must be humbled until they become as 
little children. This point of crossing is also the 
straight and narrow gate referred to by Jesus, up to 
which each Soul is brought by evolution. "Enter ye 
in at the straight gate; — because straight is the gate 
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and 
few there be that find it." It is also the gate referred 
to as the needle's eye, through which it is so difficult 
for the man attached to this world's goods to pass. 

To enter this gate we must make straight our Path ; 
must straighten out all the devious and winding paths 
of the old life so that as we enter the higher cycle of 
evolution the lower o of the 8 will be straightened out 
to form the upright stem of number 9. If we fail at 
this point we enter the broad gate and go down and 
round and round the circle of the old life. "Wide is 
the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruc- 
tion, and many there be which go in thereat." 

If the circumscribing conditions of our old life are 
straightened out and we pass onward and upward, 
we can rest assured that we have passed the tests of 
number 8. But if our life goes over and over the 
same old conditions without advancing us ; repeating 
the same old mistakes, thinking the same old thoughts, 
etc., we will know that we have been weighed and tem- 

2 Psalms, xxiii, 4. 



296 The Key to the Universe 

porarily found wanting, hence have missed the narrow 
gate and must go round the circle of the old conditions 
until we again find ourselves facing the Dweller. Even 
if our old problems do seem to fall from us, yet we 
seem to have lost interest in spiritual things, are seem- 
ingly switched off into worldly pleasures and excite- 
ments, we may know we are upon the broad path, the 
lower o of the 8. 

the 8th letter, Heth (It). 

"He produced Cheth, predominant in Sight, 
crowned it, combined and formed with it Cancer 
in the Universe, Tamuz (July) in the Year, and 
the right hand of Man." — Sepher Yetzirah, 2A. 

The 8th Hebrew letter is Heth or Cheth (ch). It 
is 1 of the simple letters and is related to the zodiacal 
sign Cancer. This letter should not be confused with 
the letter He which is somewhat similar in name and 
closely allied in occult significance. Its hieroglyphic 
meaning is a cultivated "field" in which a crop is 
brought forth. It thus suggests labor and effort, as 
well as the idea of increase and wealth. The field of 
endeavor may be 1 in which to cultivate and produce 
the fruits of peace and plenty, or a field of strife and 
battle. But in either case it is the field in which the 
Conqueror of the previous (7th) letter must use his 
Weapon, either as a sharp sword or arrow, to gain 
the supremacy over the forces that would retard his 
further evolution, or as an implement to cultivate the 
field that it may bring forth abundant crops. Only, 
when through victory he has beaten his sword into a 
plowshare and his spear into a pruninghook, .can they 
be used to make the field bring forth her increase to 
bless both the Conqueror and all mankind. 

The field is the field of his own nature and con- 
sciousness. Hence the step indicated by the 8th letter 



The 8th Letter, Heth 297 

should bring to him the increase of evolution. This can 
be attained only through effort, battle, victory and bal- 
ance, and by sedulously cultivating the soil of his 
field. The Conqueror must prove his power to balance 
the forces of good and evil which are contending in 
his field and come forth the Victor. He must also 
demonstrate his power as an husbandman to make his 
field produce to its utmost. Generally the Conqueror 
has to fight with his sword until he has equilibrated the 
positive and negative forces. Then will he find his 
field enriched from the very struggle and bloodshed 
which at 1st seemed only to devastate it. Thus Perfect 
Justice is attained ; for that from which we suffer most 
and whose adjustment and fulfillment our rebellion 
and struggles delay, when once we have truly learned 
our lesson, the Law as Justice and Compensation yields 
us a harvest, which is all the richer because of the 
struggle that has drenched our field with the blood of 
our heart. 

As with the individual, so is it with the world. There 
must come an era, even as prophesied by Isaiah, 3 when 
"He shall judge among the people — and they shall 
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears 
into pruninghooks ; nation shall not lift sword against 
nation, neither shall they learn war any more." This 
is the inevitable result of evolution. 1st 1 here and 
there grasps the idea that war is unnecessary, then 
gradually a mighty current of thought- force embodying 
that idea sweeps around the world and, appealing to 
and fostered by woman, is impressed upon the con- 
sciousness of the unborn children which will make up 
the future humanity. 

Again, since we find this letter in the Sepher Yet- 
sirah expressing the underlying force of the sign 
Cancer — Cancer being the great mother-sign and 
governing the breasts from which all are nourished — 

8 ii, 4. 



298 The Key to the Universe 

we must expect to find a similar meaning in Heth. 
And this we do, for it is both the productive, nour- 
ishing, mother-force, which is 1 of the main factors 
in evolution, and also the masculine force which accom- 
plishes by the use of the hand. Also July is the month 
of increase, when the fruits are ripe and ready for 
the harvest. "O sing unto the Lord (Law) a new 
song; for he hath done marvelous things; his right 
hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." 
{Psalms, xcviii, 1). 

This is the field in which humanity must bring forth 
victory for the individual, the race and for the planet, 
through perfecting the fruits of equilibration in Mother 
Earth, upon whose ample bosom all her children shall 
find enough, not only to sustain life, but to balance all 
economic problems. And through the balancing of 
supply and demand they shall take the next economic 
step in the evolution of the Race. Just that which 
is impressed upon the unborn children and what they 
draw in from their mother's breast, will the Race 
express. Just so must humanity imbibe from the 
breasts of the Great Mother the forces of the sign 
Cancer, which shall give them the power to bring forth 
the higher ideals in the field of their evolution. Only 
as we turn to the Great Mother, like tired children, 
will we find sustenance and to spare. 

It is therefore not at all remarkable that the 8th 
letter should stand for a "field" and be connected with 
the maternal sign Cancer. For we have seen that 
number 8 is the step at which humanity must find its 
Balance and where the Conqueror of number 7 must 
turn his weapon into an instrument with which to 
bring forth increase in the higher o of the 8. instead 
of destruction in the lower circle. 



THE 8th TAROT CARD 
JUSTICE 





MEDIEVAL 





EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



CHAPTER 33 
the 8th tarot card, Justice. 

"Thou canst create this 'day' thy chances for 
thy 'morrow.' In the 'Great Journey' causes sown 
each hour bear each its harvest of effects, for 
rigid justice rules the World." 

— The Voice of the Silence, Blavatsky, 35'. 

The 8th card is called Justice, and is represented by 
a woman seated upon a throne between the 2 columns 
of the Temple, Jakin and Boas. This card symbolizes 
the Great Mother through whose love, care and perfect 
Justice alone can the children of men find equilibrium. 
Here we see her seated and at rest between the positive 
and negative, giving her fostering love to both alike; 
she is "Wisdom who sitteth in the gates." (Prov., viii). 

She wears an iron coronet. Iron being the metal of 
the planet Mars, this symbolizes that only through the 
force of that planet, balanced and enthroned, can the 
equilibration of the sexes take place. This is not the 
force of Mars in its militant and destructive aspect, 
but its energy, strength and push. The force of iron, 
not fashioned into swords and guns, but into a 
coronet to crown the Great Mother, must be the Urge 
back of evolution ( oo ) . But iron must undergo a 
very drastic experience ere it can be put to its highest 
uses. It must be melted in the hot fires of the blast 
furnace (the fires of Karma) and be chilled by being 
plunged into earth conditions again and again, and 
hammered by the Great Law, ere it can be welded, 
transformed into steel and become fit to make the rails 
and the bridges over which the trains of commerce 
annihilate distance and weld people together through 



302 The Key to the Universe 

association and common interest. 1 Just so must the 
force of Mars be transmuted and utilized to make 
a line of communication from heart to heart and join 
both man and woman in the oneness of common 
interests. 

In 1 aspect the force of Mars may be compared to 
the circulation of the blood, governed by the breath. It 
is also the life-force of the breath of evolution; for 
as the Soul inbreathes it draws in its inspiration and 
its ideals, while as it exhales it manifests the inspira- 
tion and ideals as speech and works. Hence, the Great 
Mother being crowned with the force of Mars shows 
that she has gained the victory and is balanced and 
poised, ready to lead her children into a new day of 
manifestation. 

She holds in her right hand a sword with its point 
upward, again a sign of victory. This is again the 
Sword of the Spirit that ever cleaves asunder the 
false from the true. In her left hand she holds a 
Balance. This is again the Balance of number 8 in 
which each Soul must be weighed ere it can receive 
its Initiation. 

THE 8TH COMMANDMENT. 
8. "Thou shalt not steal." — Exodus, xx, 15. 

As 8 is the Number of Evolution, while allowing the 
exoteric meaning to stand in its literal sense, to under- 
stand the esoteric meaning of this Commandment we 
must consider the relation which stealing bears to 
evolution. 

Esoterically this Commandment means that the per- 
sonality shall not steal from the Higher Self; must 
not be allowed to steal the scepter and usurp the place 
of the Higher Self as the ruler of the life. It means 
that physical conditions and circumstances must not be 
allowed to steal from the personality its opportunities 

1 See lesson The Iron Age. 



The 8th Commandment 303 

for meditation, realization, unf oldment ; its opportuni- 
ties for expression and manifestation of the Higher 
Self in the life. For to do so is to sap and weaken the 
very source of all evolution, i. e., the pressure of the 
inner or ideal state for outward expression, modified 
by the limitations imposed by the environment. Nor 
must these same opportunities be stolen from others 
who are seeking expression through personality. Evo- 
lution is retarded until humanity as a whole awakens 
to the importance of the fact that every Soul must 
have freedom of opportunity to find its own place, 
perfect itself in its work and follow out the inner guid- 
ance of its Father-in-heaven. 

The Great Law as Karma gives to every Soul the 
portion of goods belonging to it and sends the Soul 
forth into this far country of earth life to see what 
use will be made of its inheritance. Each Soul is a 
cell in the Grand Man, an atom in the Soul of the Uni- 
verse, and has its own place in the Grand Plan. The 
goods which are given to the Soul are all the facul- 
ties, powers, knowledge and wisdom gained through 
past experience, expressed in this life as inherent facul- 
ties, powers and abilities, together with the as yet 
undeveloped possibilities which the experiences of this 
life are intended to unfold and perfect. Only by this 
unfoldment and perfection through evolution can the 
Soul be fitted to take its true place in the Grand Plan ; 
a place which no other Soul can fill, and which must 
remain empty or be imperfectly filled until that indi- 
vidual Soul has consciously correlated with, and 
become an unobstructed channel for, the manifestation 
of the 1 Life. 

When the human law puts a man in jail for stealing 
money, or perhaps a loaf of bread, if it deprives him 
of his freedom and his opportunities without due con- 
sideration of the motives, circumstances and causes 



304 The Key to the Universe 

of his act, it is not administering or correlating with 
the Law of Exact Justice ; for it is stealing from him 
far more than he stole from society, and is retarding 
and often pushing back evolution. If we punish with- 
out justice and mercy; coerce, domineer or in any way 
steal away the rights and freedom of others, we steal 
from them their Soul opportunities. And the Great 
Law will imprison us, individually and collectively, in 
the prison of limited and unhappy conditions and at 
hard labor, until we see our error and learn to help our 
less fortunate brothers and sisters through the exercise 
of tolerance, love and compassion, which are all a part 
of real Justice. All these, together with such other 
help as we can give toward its highest unfoldment, is 
due every Soul from every other Soul. If we withhold 
these we are stealing from that other forces which are 
rightfully his, and we must remain in bondage to 
selfishness just that much longer. 

To steal mere physical things is punishable by phys- 
ical Karma. That is, we must suffer, either in this or 
another life, from conditions that will open our eyes 
and bring us to a realization that it is both inherently 
wrong and causes suffering to take even the physical 
things that belong to another. Karma does not mean 
that if you steal a man's watch in this life, in the next 
life he must steal a watch from you. If this were true 
the Soul-quality whose lack prompted the stealing 
would never be developed, the spirit of stealing would 
be perpetuated, and there would be no end to the 
vicious circle. In the above case Karma would mean 
that you must pass through certain experiences — say 
the loss of things your personality valued highly — 
which will develop in you a recognition of the rights 
of others to the enjoyment of that which is rightly 
theirs. The Great Law shuts up a Soul who steals 
in the prison house of limited environment, to labor 



The 8th Commandment 305 

under the oppression of physical conditions until the 
lacking Soul-quality is developed. 

Since all evolution tends to develop more and more 
perfect organisms through which greater and greater 
degrees of freedom from the bondage of external con- 
ditions can manifest, we can be truly free from the 
bonds of Karma only as we work with evolution, 
through the seeking of those things which are our own 
and following those things which will perfect and thus 
hasten our evolution. This is not attained by selfishly 
trampling on the freedom or rights of others that we 
may advance — 'for to do so is to develop selfishness — 
but through harmonious co-operation for the good 
of all. 

Therefore, we see that nothing will so retard our 
own evolution as to steal from another that which 
has been given to him and not to us, be it a thing, a 
thought, an opportunity or a life. For the Great Law 
of Exact Justice will keep us in bondage to physical 
limitations, in the prison house of flesh, in the tread- 
mill of Karma, incarnation after incarnation, until we 
have fulfilled every jot and tittle of the Law we have 
broken, and have repaid to humanity a 1000 fold that 
which we have stolen. 



CHAPTER 34 

THE NUMBER 9. 

"The Ninth Path is the Pure Intelligence, SO 
called because it purines the Numerations, it 
proves and corrects the designing of their repre- 
sentation, and disposes their unity with which they 
are combined without diminution or division." 
— Sepher Yetzirah, 29. 

Number 9 is primarily the Number of Initiation. 
As we have previously pointed out: "It is that most 
mysterious number which never changes. No matter 
how multiplied or added the sum of the resulting digits 
will always equal 9, i. e., 9+9=18=9, or 9X9^=81=9, 
etc. In it all numbers are swallowed up to emerge 
once more in a new cycle, 10." 1 In this sense it has 
the same symbology as the serpent swallowing its own 
tail, namely, the ending of a cycle. It is Cronus or 
Saturn devouring his children. Thus it is truly the 
Number of Initiation. For while there is a minor 
initiation at each step in the Soul-life, "no matter how 
you have multiplied sensation, experience, knowledge 
or attainment, you cannot pass your Great Initiation 
until you have returned to that from which you started, 
just as all multiples of 9 return to 9." 1 

As number 9 is the square of the 1st odd number 
or trinity, 3, it represents Deity descending into human- 
ity and evolving through man until squared, or until 
through Initiation man has manifested the Divine in 
each of the 3 worlds. Number 9 is also the Number 
of Initiation because it is a trinity of trinities — God, 
man and nature — man, woman and the magnetic link 
between them — love, truth and understanding — each 
trinity of which, no matter how we deny or try to 

» V. of I., 368. 



The Number 9 307 

escape it, brings us face to face with Deity (3) in the 
3 worlds and ultimately completes our Great Initiation. 
The 9th Sephira completes the 3rd trinity, or the 
trinity of trinities. It is called in The Kabbalah "El 
Chai," the mighty Living 1, also Shaddai, the founda- 
tion or basis, because only as this 3rd trinity is 
unfolded and made the base for the other 2, is the 
disciple ready to pass his great Initiation. It is here 
that the Mystic Rose may be said to bloom in his heart. 
This Rose is represented in a conventionalized form 
with 9 petals on the outer edge, 6 on the next row 
and 3 around the center. Its angelic name is "The 
Flames." 

Every step by which we evolve from 1 number to 
the next is a minor initiation, but after each 3 such 
minor steps there is a Major Initiation which when 
passed admits us into a new cycle (10) and realm of 
consciousness (See Table 2, page 136). At each 
minor initiation we must face our personality, but at 
each Major Initiation we must face our own Soul or 
Deity (3). These 3 Major Initiations, which complete 
the Great Initiation of number 9, are represented math- 
ematically thus : 

0+1+2+3+4=10, the Cycle of Nature or 

physical conditions, whose 
symbol is the Staff. 
(10) +5+6+7=28=10, the Cycle of Man or The 

Christ-force, whose sym- 
bol is the Robe. 
(28) +8+9+10=55=10, the Cycle of Super-man or 

the Higher Self, whose 
symbol is a lighted Candle 
or Lamp of Hermes. 
The Staff is the Staff of the Patriarchs by the use 
of which we tread the Narrow Way of Initiation lead- 
ing to the heaven world. The Robe is the Robe of 



308 The Key to the Universe 

The Christ or the Mantle of Nature. When clothed in 
it we are 1 with all manifested life. The Lamp of 
Hermes is the Light of Wisdom which lights the way 
of the Super-Man. "Number nine is that of divine 
reflections ; it expresses the divine idea in all its 
abstract power, but it also signifies extravagance in 
belief, and hence superstition and idolatry. For this 
reason Hermes has made it the Number of Initiation, 
because the Initiate reigns over superstition and by 
superstition and alone can advance -through the dark- 
ness, leaning upon his staff, enveloped in his Mantle, 
and lighted by his Lamp. * * * The Lamp of Trisme- 
gistus enlightens past, present and future, lays bare the 
conscience of men and manifests the inmost recesses of 
the female heart. The Lamp burns with a triple flame, 
the Mantle is thrice-folded, and the Staff is divided 
into three parts." 2 Again the 3X3=9. 

As we have already said : "In 9 we find again the 
cipher with which we started, but with a straight line 
(the evolution of the lower o of the 8 completed and 
straightened out) descending from it. Later when the 
Initiation is completed this line will take its place to 
the right of the cipher making 10, thus completing the 
cycle and making man more than man." 3 According 
to filiphas Levi : "Initiation is a preservative against 
the false lights of mysticism; it equips human reason 
with its relative value and proportional infallibility, 
connecting it with supreme reason by a chain of analo- 
gies. Hence the Initiate knows no doubtful hopes, no 
absurd fears because he has no irrational beliefs; he 
is acquainted with the extent of his power, and he can 
dare without danger; with him, therefore, to dare is 
to be able * * * He knows, he dares, and is silent." 2 The 
Initiates are the Sons (Suns) of God, and in the world 
of men hold the same relation as the Stars (Suns) do 
to the Cosmos. 



2 Transcendental Magic, Levi, 
* V. of I., 369. 



The Number 9 309 

While number 9 has always been considered the 
Number of Mystery, it is said to embody the power 
of Silence or that sacred hush in which all activity 
is swallowed up in the initiation of new life ; the dark- 
ness just before the dawn; the magnetic thrill as the 
sun sinks below the horizon; the hush before a storm; 
the pause at the turn of the tide. 

Apollonius of Tyana, the Greek Neo-Platonic phil- 
osopher, was an Initiate and hence fully understood 
the significance and importance of this number. He 
instructed his disciples specifically concerning it. He 
required strict observance of the 9th hour as a time 
for silence. He also forbade his followers to mention 
number 9 aloud. "This number, says Apollonius, must 
be passed over in silence, because it contains the great 
secrets of the initiate, the power which fructifies the 
earth. * * * the mysteries of secret fire; * * * the 
universal key of languages; * * * the second sight 
from which evil-doers cannot remain concealed." 4 

When number 9 was met with in their calculations 
it was therefore passed over in silence, and a deep 
obeisance was made as a recognition of its sacred char- 
acter. This, of course, was but a ceremony intended to 
impress upon the minds of the Neophytes the great im- 
portance of Initiation, its sacredness and the folly and 
danger of even speaking lightly concerning its mys- 
teries. We quite agree with this teaching, for the 
mystic 9th hour, both as a period of the day and as a 
period of the Soul's evolution, is a cycle of most sacred 
and mysterious import. At high noon all the forces 
of life are focused on the physical plane, hence great 
activity is going on in the physical body. This is 
therefore the best time to eat a hearty meal ; for just 
as the Sun has its greatest power in nature at high 
noon, so is it in man's body. Noon is also the best 
time to send out our spiritual blessing to the world, 

* Transcendental Magic, Levi, 407, 



310 The Key to the Universe 

upon the physical plane, since it is the time of greatest 
activity and impressionability. From noon until 3 P. 
M., or during the 9th hour, should be a time of quiet 
rest and digestion, both of the physical food taken at 
noon and also of the spiritual forces impressed on the 
physical body in the noon meditation and prayer 
service. 

In response to this need the Order of Christian 
Mystics has established a noon-day silence and healing 
service which is open to all, and with which all are 
urged to unite. 5 In this service, just as the clock strikes 
12, strive to enter the great Temple of Silence, don the 
Seamless Robe of The Christ and become 1 with your 
brothers and sisters throughout the world. 

As it is noon in some part of the world all the time, 
and as our pupils in all parts of the world are sending 
their love and force to the Center of the Order as the 
clock strikes 12, it makes a continual stream of force 
sweeping around the globe every moment of the day 
and night. Their love adds a touch of human sym- 
pathy and comfort to the great currents of spiritual 
force which are poured into humanity from the higher 
realms through this Order and which sweep Westward 
around the globe from this Center, carrying Light and 
Love, health and prosperity to all who are in need; 
burning up the chaff and unfolding the blossoms of 
love and unselfishness in the hearts and lives of each 
1 who correlates with them. All that is necessary to 
partake of this stream of spiritual force and love is 
mentally to unite yourself with the band of devoted 
brothers and sisters who are joined hand in hand and 
heart to heart in an endless chain which reaches around 
the globe, for the purpose of rendering unselfish serv- 
ice for The Christ to humanity. And as you give of 
your force for the good of all, to that extent do you 
partake of the power and force of all. 

6 See V. of L, 410-11. 



The Number p 311 

Each student should set aside at least 10 minutes 
during the day for silent meditation upon the Divine, 
and should faithfully keep this tryst with his or her 
Higher Self. If possible make this time at noon. If 
this is not possible at least send your thoughts of love 
and helpfulness to this Center at that time and con- 
tribute the force of your love and devotion to the 
upliftment of all. This is an exercise in practical 
occultism which has far-reaching effects. 

At the conclusion of the silence period we mention 
the names of all who have sought the help of the 
Order, and mentally lay them in the radiant Light of 
The Christ-force in the mystic Temple of Silence 6 that 
they may receive a spiritual blessing. We will repeat 
each day for 1 week, all names sent us, at the end of 
which time they will no longer be mentioned unless by 
special request. All who ask this special help should 
make a determined effort to correlate with us at this 
hour and should report the experiences or results 
which follow. 

Long ere man passes his Great Initiation he must 
consciously correlate his consciousness with those intel- 
ligent forces of nature brought to the earth at noon 
by the Sun's direct rays, which Apollonius called genii, 
but which are known to the Hindus as the Devas, and 
to the Christians as "the principalities and powers in 
heavenly places" (Eph., iii, 10), whose function it is 
to guide the forces of the 1 Life into expression 
through the various planes of evolution, both in nature 
and in man. Each hour has its presiding Genius or 
"power," the Genius of the 9th hour being concerned 
with gathering out of the 3 realms — nature, man and 
God — all the forces which the 1 Life has perfected 
(initiated), and with them laying a square foundation 
upon which a new and more perfect cycle ( 10) can be 
erected. Hence ere man can pass number 9 he must 

a See lesson The Temple of Silence. 



312 The Key to the Universe 

understand how, not only to harmonize with the forces 
of nature, but also how consciously to direct them. 
Thus will he work with the Genius of the 9th hour. 
"God works in a mysterious way His wonders to per- 
form." It is a step towards this great achievement 
when we set aside a few moments each day at noon 
and try to gather The Christ-force, which in Nature 
is Sun-force, and to send it forth in blessing and heal- 
ing to the world. 

If something of the reverence for Initiation taught 
by Apollonius were inculcated in modern students 
their spiritual unfoldment would be markedly quick- 
ened. So many today with irreverent tongues talk 
glibly of the many so-called "initiations" through 
which they have passed, while all the time their very 
garrulity and their lack of real understanding, power 
and helpfulness, proves to those who know the Law, 
that such boasters have never passed a Major Initia- 
tion. For since number 9 is the Number of Silence 
and creativeness, of working with nature-forces, the 
Initiate can always be recognized by his silent power. 
He never babbles, for he knows that in nature the 
babbling brook has no still depths in which the mystery 
of a new life can be brought forth. It also shows that 
such boasters have little understanding of what even 
a minor initiation signifies. Such claims lay their 
authors open to the suspicion that they have been 
deluded either by their own ambitions or have been 
deceived by astral impostors or both, or that at best 
their experience was but the astral ceremony of a 
minor initiation which was to work out later on in 
the physical life. This illustrates the folly of such 
claimants trying to make a great impression on their 
hearers. 

The danger of boasting concerning such mighty 
experiences of Divine Realization is that the Great 



The Number o 313 

Law, under the guidance of the Lords of Karma, must 
make the claimant prove every assertion. The law as 
stated in the Bible is, "For by thy words thou shalt 
be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be con- 
demned" (St. Matthew, xii, 37). Hence a babbler will 
soon find himself plunged into troubles and tests for 
which he is unprepared, and will perhaps wonder at 
his uncommon run of ill luck, as he may call it, com- 
ing at a time when, according to his flattering astral 
guides and the assurance of his ambition, he should be 
enjoying the fruits of his exceptional worthiness. "Be 
humble, if thou wouldst attain to Wisdom. Be humbler 
still, when Wisdom thou hast mastered." 7 

It should be clearly understood that Initiation occurs 
1st in the higher realms and then gradually descends 
to manifest in the physical world, thus following the 
law of all manifestation. 

"Having taken this step alone, apparently in the 
darkness, the pupil will be brought to the Initiation 
which his demand will surely bring about. He will 
meet this Initiation either unconsciously through, natu- 
ral worldly events (events, however, which he will 
have no difficulty in connecting with this great step), 
or consciously in the higher astral. The experiences 
met with at this period will not consist of a few great 
Soul-stirring events, which when once passed entitle 
him to admission, but will consist of events which will 
bring to him a repetition of experiences which will 
force him to face himself and bring to his consciousness 
every secret and open fault; events which will force 
him to gaze into the eyes of the self that he has created 
out of the personality which his Real Self (or Ego) 
has created to train and function through; the self 
built up out of the thought- forms he has created. * * * 
There can be no dodging the issue or turning back 
from these events, for it is a mathematical law that he 

1 The Voice of the Silence, 39. 



314 The Key to the Universe 

cannot pass on until he has acquired strength to con- 
quer these faults, one by one, as they are presented to 
him. If he refuses, or is unable to conquer, his Soul 
must wait and work in the lower Orders until it grows 
stronger, and another cyclic opportunity for advance 
is afforded." 8 

The Soul may experience and pass an Initiation in 
the higher realms (5th and 6th) of the astral world, 9 
and some realization of the event may be brought down 
into the waking consciousness in the form of a well 
remembered dream or psychic experience, but it may 
be many years ere the Initiation descends into mani- 
festation and is worked out on the physical plane; for 
the same tests which the Soul successfully passed in 
the higher realms are presented to the unsuspecting 
personality by life itself. Generally the dream ends 
ere the final step is taken, leaving the dreamer uncer- 
tain of the end, because the end is not decided until 
by his own free-will he has chosen to manifest it in his 
daily life. The consummation of the Initiation on the 
physical plane is often pushed back and delayed, some- 
times for a whole incarnation, by the refusal of the 
personality to follow the guidance of the Higher Self 
or by its refusal to face, recognize and strive to con- 
quer the events in life as they are presented to him 
day by day by the Great Initiator. All depends upon 
how the personality meets these tests. Life brings 
these tests upon the aspirant at his weakest points, 
but since he has already passed them in the higher 
realms, he has the strength and Soul-power to conquer 
them if he will allow that Soul-power to manifest 
through him. "Let not him that girdeth on his harness 
boast himself as he that putteth it off." (I Kings, xx, 
11). As illustrated in the case of Benhadad, King of 
Syria, in the story referred to above, the very boasting 
brings the battle upon the aspirant long before it would 

8 V. of I., 63-4. 

* See Realms of the Astral World, Curtiss. To be published shortly. 



The Number o 31 5 

have otherwise descended and before the intermediate 
steps have prepared him to meet it. But until the inner 
experience has really descended into the physical world 
and conditions analogous to those which the dream or 
vision symbolically outpictured have actualized into life 
problems, can he be said to have passed his tests. Such 
occurrences are not fables nor mere imagination, but 
actual life experiences. The candidate must meet them 
without being told that they pertain to his Initiation, 
except as his own Higher Self endeavors to prepare 
his waking consciousness for the experiences which 
are to follow. In reality all are warned and prepared 
interiorly, but alas all do not remember or heed or 
attach due importance to such warnings. After the 
Great Initiation has been exemplified in the life, the 
victorious candidate will consciously meet his Initiator 
face to face and receive the assurance that he has 
indeed been admitted into the Brotherhood. 

In occult stories pertaining to Initiation, that mys- 
tical experience is usually treated in an allegorical or 
symbolic manner. The candidate is made to pass 
through the most phantastic experiences and the most 
harrowing and grewsome trials of his courage, faith, 
and obedience. Such stories are purposely intended 
to stimulate the desire for Initiation, yet are blinds 
which do not reveal to the profane any of its secrets. 
The candidate may pass such fantastic experiences in 
the astral world, but ere he is truly an Initiate he must 
meet in real life that which they symbolize. Remem- 
ber that true Initiation gives real balance, real power 
and real spiritual growth, which will manifest in the 
daily life. 



CHAPTER 35 

the number 9 — (Continued). 

"It is on this 'knowledge' that the programme 
of the Mysteries and of Initiations was based: 
hence the construction of the Pyramid, the ever- 
lasting record and indestructible symbol of these 
Mysteries and Initiations on Earth, as the course 
of the stars in Heaven." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, Vol. I, 333. 

Among the disciples of Apollonius and other ancient 
philosophers many mystic potencies were ascribed to 
number 9. It was frequently worn as an amulet, 1 
method being that of having it engraved upon a sar- 
donyx stone set in a silver ring. Such a ring was 
worn upon the 2nd finger of the left hand (the Saturn 
finger) as a sign of having passed a certain Initiation. 
In such a case it was said to possess the power of 
making the wearer invisible at will. The ring, how- 
ever, had to be presented to the successful candidate at 
the time of the Initiation, after having been made 
under the special conditions necessary. Many curious 
and authentic tales are told, even today, of the mys- 
terious power of invisibility possessed by certain highly 
advanced individuals. 

The power of number 9 was also said to prevail 
against plagues and fevers. But since all amulets, 
talismans, etc., derive their powers largely from the 
currents of force focused in them by the will of the 
maker and the thought-power of those who believe in 
them, it is quite understandable that those Great Souls 
who were working among the densely ignorant and 
superstitious masses during the Middle Ages, found it 
helpful and admissible to have some object upon 



The Number o — (Continued) 317 

which to focus the attention, belief and thought- 
power of their followers. Nevertheless, each number 
has a potency of its own which is inherent in that 
which it represents. A sardonyx stone also has its 
own magnetic and other mystic potencies, as do all 
jewels, minerals, etc. The oriental sardonyx consists 
of 3 distinct layers, a black base, a white intermediate 
zone and a deeper superficial layer of reddish brown. 
Thus it is said to typify the 3 cardinal virtues neces- 
sary for a true Initiate, the black of his unmanifested 
possibilities which he is to unfold and express, the 
white of chastity and purity of body, mind and heart, 
and the brown of that humility which puts aside all 
personality, mixed with the red of Mars which gives 
the courage to face martyrdom if necessary rather 
than to reveal the sacred Mysteries of Initiation to 
the profane. Also the setting of this talisman in silver 
(the metal of the moon), gives to it the power of 
intuition and psychic unfoldment. Number 9 was 
also said to bring health and long life if carved upon 
any kind of amulet and worn upon the bosom. But 
wisdom and an understanding of the laws of health 
and the power of will and thought, will prove the 
best amulet for this purpose in the present day. 

Plato, the greatest pupil of Pythagoras, lays great 
stress upon the importance of number 9. By the power 
of his will he is said to have so ordered his life that 
he passed away at the square of 9 or 9X9=81 years 
of age, in full vigor of intellect and power. It was his 
death occurring at that particular age which was 
largely responsible for bringing 81 into disrepute and 
causing it to be dreaded by his later and uninitiated 
followers. 

Being the last of the digits, number 9 is the symbol 
of that which brings things to an end and prepares for 
a new manifestation, Just as the intra-uterine life of 



318 The Key to the Universe 

the child is brought to a close at the 9th month and the 
new cycle of life begins with the breath of number 8 
entering the lungs at birth, so does Initiation sum 
up all the lessons learned through past experiences and 
initiates the consciousness of the candidate into a new 
life. It was at the 9th hour that Jesus is represented 
as breathing his last upon the cross, and we are told 
that "from the 6th hour (from 9 A. M. until noon), 
there was darkness over all the land until the 9th 
hour," or from noon until 3 P. M. This allegorically 
represents the Initiation of every true disciple of The 
Christ; for as long as the personality hangs on the 
cross — from the time The Christ (No. 6) is conceived 
in the heart (the 6th hour) until the Initiation is 
completed (9th hour) — there is darkness over the 
earth or the human understanding. And only at the 
9th hour, when the personality gives up the ghost 
or resigns its life to the Father-in-heaven and cries 
with a loud voice : "Father, into thy hands I com- 
mend my spirit," is the veil between the 2 worlds rent 
and the real birth into the higher Divine Conscious- 
ness accomplished. 

The 6th hour is The Christ hour, the period during 
which the rays of the sun are struggling toward com- 
plete expression at the zenith. And just as in nature, 
from 9 A. M. until noon, so in the disciple during the 
6th hour, he is striving to let the Spiritual Sun dom- 
inate and reach the zenith of his life. From noon 
until number 3, while the light seems to be waning, in 
reality it is passing into the mysterious depths of 
nature and being alchemically transmuted into new 
growth, and at number 3, the divine number, the 
indrawing is complete. During the 11th hour, or from 
3 to 6 P. M., nature is resting, and during the 4 watches 
of the night a new day is taking form in the womb of 
nature. As the 4 divisions of the day lay the found- 



The Number p — (Continued) 319 

ation of Initiation, so the 4 watches of the night lay 
the foundation of a new day, number 10. 

In Grecian mythology number 9 was consecrated to 
the "music of the spheres" and to the Muses. There 
were 9 Muses, daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne 
(memory). Each was assigned to preside over 1 
particular department of literature, art or science. 
Calliope presided over epic poetry, Clio over history, 
Euterpe over lyric poetry, Melpomene over tragedy, 
Terpsichore over choral dance, Polymnia over sacred 
song, Erato over love poetry, Urania over astronomy 
and Thalia over comedy. Again, 9 combines the 3 
Graces (Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia), who preside 
over the joys of life, the banquet and the dance; the 3 
Fates (Clot ho, Lachesis and Atropos), who spun the 
Thread of Destiny, and the 3 Furies (Alecto, Tisiphone 
and Megaera) } who punished by their secret stings the 
crimes of those who escaped or defied public justice, 
into a trinity of trinities, which illustrates the tests and 
trials of Initiation. For the candidate must prove his 
mastery over the social pleasures of the Graces, must 
courageously take from the Fates his 3 fold Thread of 
Destiny and meet with unruffled equanimity the 3 Furies 
and accomplish the Karmic adjustment of his secret sins. 

The great Eleusinian Mysteries began on the 6th 
day of the month and continued for a period of 9 
days, during which time the Initiation of the candidates 
took place. Number 9 played an important part in 
the life of the Romans. They celebrated a Feast of 
Purification for all male infants on the 9th day after 
birth. This rite was called "mudina." They buried 
their dead on the 9th day, and also held a feast called 
"Novennalia" every 9th year in memory of the dead. 
The Roman Catholic Church still holds the Feast of 
Neuvaines, a service of prayer and devotion celebrated 
on 9 successive days, during which the worshippers 



320 The Key to the Universe 

pray for such special blessing as may be indicated by 
the condition of the church or the needs of the times, 
but always the idea is to pray the Soul out of Purga- 
tory. There can be little doubt as to the efficacy of 
such a ceremony ; for if a number of persons pray 
earnestly for 9 consecutive days for anything upon 
which they all agree and concentrate, they will surely 
bring it into manifestation, be it a blessing or a curse. 
The Jews were forbidden to wear either the Talleth 
or the Phylacteries on the 9th of the month Ab until 
the close of the day, and were strictly enjoined to 
spend the entire day in fasting and repentance; for 
they believed that no good thing could come of any 
work done on the 9th day. 

It is claimed by certain authors that number 9 per- 
tains to Black Magic and sorcery, as well it may, for 
when the Candidate fails to pass his Initiation there 
is a temptation to use such powers as he has already 
won for selfish purposes. We find number 9 alluded to 
in this connection by Shakespeare in Macbeth (Act 1, 
scene 3), where we find it conspicuous in the spells 
of "the sisters three." 

"Weary, sev'n-nights, nine times nine, 
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine * * * 
The weird sisters, hand in hand, 
Posters of the sea and land, 
Thus to go about, about; 
Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, 
And thrice again, to make up nine. 
Peace ! * * * the charm's wound up." 

Number 9 was dreaded by the candidate who had 
not mastered fear, for at Initiation all the evil influ- 
ences of man's lower nature come up before him to 
tempt or appall him. But number 9 is also the num- 
ber which gives to the brave and true Knight the 



The Number p — (Continued) 321 

courage to dare all such conditions, as well as the 
wisdom to transmute them into good. 

We often meet with number 9 in old myth and 
fairy tales where, if not connected with black magic, 
it is looked upon as the enchanter's number. In the 
story of Kilhweh and Alwen the castle was constructed 
with 9 gates and 9 portals, beside which sat 9 dogs. 
There was also an inexhaustible basket from which it 
is said that thrice 9 men at a time could each find the 
meat that he most desired. King Arthur is said to 
have fought with an enchanted pig for 9 days and 
9 nights. These are but 2 more references to Initia- 
tion, as are many other seemingly meaningless fairy 
tales ; for the pig represents man's lower animal nature 
and its appetites, which the candidate for Knighthood 
or Initiation must conquer. 

The Tartars hold number 9 in great reverence. It 
is said that the Great Khan was told in a vision to 
go to a certain mountain overlooking the sea and there 
kneel 9 times toward the East. He did so and the sea 
separated and exposed a pathway 9 feet broad, over 
which all the Tartar hosts passed dry shod. This is 
but another version of the myth of the passage of the 
Israelites through the Red Sea in a similar fashion. 
Both these myths symbolize the desire of the Soul, 
after harkening to the voice of the Law Giver, to 
come out of and away from the land of spiritual 
darkness (Egypt), where it and all its faculties (the 
Children of Israel) have been in bondage to King 
Desire (Pharaoh) and the sensations of the lower 
self. They both refer to the 1st conscious steps that 
lead toward Initiation. 

The Masons have an Order called "The Elect of 
the Nine," in which 9 roses, 9 lights and 9 knocks 
enter into the ceremonies. This degree is consecrated 
to "bravery, devotedness and patriotism." All of 



322 The Key to the Universe 

these are summed up in the simple mandate, "Protect 
the oppressed against oppression ; and devote yourself 
to the honor and interests of your country." This 
degree also inculcates self-renunciation and self-con- 
trol, both necessary qualities for Initiation. While the 
Masons in general may not place as great a spiritual 
significance upon Initiation as does the mystic, never- 
theless the very term "The Elect of the 9" refers to 
those who have passed a certain Initiation. 

"The nine regular pictures of the universal Druid 
Church * * * are as follows : ( 1 ) The naming of 
the Time-keeping priest by the TEMpl and the Rope; 
(2) his ears being shown in the form of their Celtic 
name 'O' ; (3) the picture of the Ape, pointed out as 
his name; (4) the blazing Sun on his breast, contain- 
ing the face of the human deity; (5) the Serpent, 
which was also worn on the robes of the Celtic Druids ; 
(6) the two Doves used in biblical sacrifice; (7) the 
Belt which named all the Druid Belt priests; (8) the 
Feathered head of the Chief to name the rank of this 
High Priest; (9) the Two Eight spoked Wheels of 
universal use in naming the Solar God and his Car." 1 

Milton represents Satan and his rebellious angels 
as requiring 9 days to fall from heaven. Milton, like 
all inspired poets, is mystical in spite of the orthodox 
twist he gives to his great conceptions. Lucifer, instead 
of being a "fallen" angel, was 1 of the Elohim who 
consciously descended into the realms of human con- 
sciousness to bring to mankind the Divine Light and, in 
his aspect of Satan or Saturn, to become the great 
Initiator. 2 

Number 9 is the greatest single number or the Mas- 
ter Digit, because it manifests the ultimate power of 1 
place. 2 nines (99) express the ultimate power of 
2 places, 3 nines the ultimate power of 3 places, etc. 
The Number of the Manifested Cosmos is therefore 



1 The Jarvis Letters, xi. 

2 On this point see V. of I., 243-7 and 333-6. 



The Number p — (Continued) 323 

a series of nines extending to infinity, thus : 999,999,- 
999 oo. In other words only by passing the Initiation 
of number 9 can the cycle of any manifestation or dis- 
pensation or circle of 360 — which adds up to 9 — be 
completed. 

The mystical number of the 144,000 Saints gath- 
ered from the 12 tribes of Israel — which closes the 
cycle of that dispensation — also adds up to 9. This is 
but another expression of the unity of all mankind in 
Adam whose number is 144=9. 

"The cycle of Initiation was a reproduction in 
miniature of that great series of cosmic changes 
to which astronomers have given the name of the 
Tropical or Sidereal Year. Just as, at the close of 
the cycle of the Sidereal Year (25,868 years), 
the heavenly bodies return to the same relative 
positions as they occupied at its outset, so at the 
close of the cycle of Initiation the Inner Man 
has regained the pristine state of divine purity 
and knowledge from which he set out on his cycle 
of terrestrial incarnation." 3 

The digits 1+2+3+44-5+6+7+8+9 = 45 = 9. 
Therefore 9 is called the basis of the unit value of all 
numbers and the key to the mensuration of all chances. 
Divide any number by 9 and if there is no remainder 
the digits of the number so divided will add up to 9. 
In other words, the sum of the digits exactly divisible 
by 9 equals 9; for instance, 7641 is exactly divisible 
by 9 and 7641=18=9. When dividing a number by 
9, if there is a remainder the number will add up 
the same digit as the remainder, for example: 921 
divided by 9 leaves a remainder of 3 and 921=12=3. 
Number 9 also reproduces itself in all multiples, thus : 
7X9=63=9; 4X9=36=9, etc. Added to itself or 
its multiples, 9 always remains, thus : 9+9=18=9 ; 
27+9=36=9. But added to any other number it is 
lost, thus: 9+8=17=8; 28+9=37=10. An exam- 

« S. D., I, 334. 



324 The Key to the Universe 

pie of the persistence of number 9 is seen in the fol- 
lowing table : 

1 digit 9 or 9X 1=9X1 =9 



2 digits 9 

3 " 9 

4 " 9 

5 " 9 

6 " 9 



99X 11=9X11X1 =99X 1X99 =18 = 9 

• 999X 121=9X11X11 =99X 11X1089 =18=9 

9999X 1221 = 9X11X111 =99X 111X10989 =27=9 

99999X 12221=9X11X1111 =99X 1111X109989 =36 = 9 

999999X122221=9X11X11111=99X11111X1099989=45=9 



The sum of the Seal of Solomon is also 9, thus; 




s&$ 



The sum of any 2 points joined by a line through 
the center equals 9, and added to the central point 
equals 18=9. 

In the philosophy of Henry Cornelius Agrippa, who 
wrote extensively concerning numbers and magic early 
in the sixteenth century, some extremely interesting 
mathematical relations involving number 9 are given. 
"Take any number, reverse it to obtain a second num- 
ber, subtract one number from the other, and the digits 
of the remainder will always by addition reduce into 
9 and the remainder itself will always be 9 or a mul- 
tiple of 9. This operation is a spiral movement of the 
numbers employed, and the 9, therefore, represents 



The Number o — (Continued) 325 

a circle. An eternal spiral motion may be properly 
represented by an endless row of nines, each 9 sym- 
bolizing one complete revolution of the spiral move- 
ment. * * * By reason of these properties of 7 and 9 to 
numerically interpret Infinite Nature ( 999,999,999 oo ) 
is to divide it by number 7 (the Interpreter of Nature). 
This gives us, again, the Number of Infinite Evolu- 
tion— 142857,142857,142857 oo. * * * There are 9 points 
to a cube — its 8 corners and its center, the only point 
where its 7 dimensions intersect each other. The cube 
itself is an Ego or One. This One, plus its 9 points, 
shows the cube to be a Raised One or 10. By dividing 
this Raised One by its 7 dimensions we obtain 1.42857- 
142857,142857 oo ." 4 This number 142857 also equals 
27=9. 

"Multiplying 142857 by 7 gives, of course, 999,999, 
the original nines returning. Multiplying the first 6 
digits gives a 'magic square,' every line and column 
of which contains all the original digits of the num- 
ber. The sum of each line and column is 27, or 3 times 
9; also 4 times 7, minus 1, here a diameter correction. 

"The Magic Square of 142857 is as follows : 

142857X1=15873 nines or 142857=27=9 



142857X2=31746 
142857X3=47619 
142857X4=63492 
142857X5=79365 
142857X6=95238 



or 285714=27=9 
or 428571=27=9 
or 571428=27=9 
or 714285=27=9 
or 857142=27=9 



"The lines of the square show external rotation only. 
The columns show internal transposition only, and the 
digits are so transposed that each one always adds into 
9 with its co-ordinately placed digit. 

"The whole number of nines in the square is 333,333. 
The total of the square is 2,999,997, in which 7 goes 
exactly 428571 times, and 9, of course, 333,333 times." 5 

* The Mystic Thesaurus, Whitehead, 45-6. 
5 The Mystic Thesaurus, Whitehead, 49-50. 



326 The Key to the Universe 

A surprising series of rotations which result when 
the figures 12,345,679 are multiplied by 9 and by mul- 
tiples of 9 is given by the German mathematician, Al- 
bert Neuberger, as follows : 

12345679X 9=111111111 
1 2345679 X 18=222222222 
1 2345679 X 27=333333333 
12345679X36=444444444 
12345679X45=555555555 
12345679X 54=666666666 
12345679 X 63=777777777 
1 2345679 X 72=888888888 
12345679X81=999999999 



CHAPTER 36 

the 9th letter, Teth (K) 

"He produced Teth, predominant in Hearing, 
crowned it, combined and formed with it Leo 
in the Universe, Ab (August) in the Year, and 
the left Kidney in Man." — Sepher Yetzirah, 24. 

The 9th Hebrew letter, Teth (T), is 1 of the simple 
letters and is connected with the zodiacal sign Leo, the 
heart of the Grand Man. The actual meaning of Teth 
is a serpent, and as 9 is the Number of Initiation an 
Initiate is called a Naga or Serpent of Wisdom. An- 
other reason for the application of this term is that 
just as the serpent changes and renews his outer skin, 
so the Initiate changes and renews his personality; 
that is, he shakes off and emerges from the limitations 
of the old personality as he becomes an Initiate. Num- 
ber 9 also completes and shakes off the old digits — 
which might be compared to the personality — and 
emerges in the new number, 10. As with the 
serpent, however, the new skin or personality is 
built up by the digestion and assimilation of all 
that was contained or experienced in the former, 
so that the 2nd cycles of digits (10, 20, 30, 
etc.) are the same as the 1st, but with the power 
of 10 added to each. And just as the newly emerged 
serpent is the old serpent grown longer and more per- 
fect, so does the Initiate retain the old but perfected 
personality, with all the unfolded powers added. For 
in his long pilgrimage toward the 9th Gate he has lit- 
tle by little transmuted the old body, and atom by atom 
has cast off the seeds of decay and death, until now it 
is a glorious body of immortal life, for he has over- 
come death. 



328 The Key to the Universe 

The hieroglyphic meaning of Teth is a "roof/* the 
idea being that of a covering or protection. Another 
meaning of the letter is "El Chai," the Mighty Living 
1, for it is the force of the 1 Life manifesting in man 
as an electro-dynamic force, the Kundalini or serpent 
power, which when lifted up and dominated by the 
spiritualized Will makes of man an Initiate. In this 
sense Teth indicates that only as we have "passed the 
Great Initiation of number 9 and have become "wise 
as serpents and harmless as doves," can we consciously 
express the power of the Mighty Living 1. The sen- 
tence quoted above is another allusion to the mystic 
Initiation, for the candidate has 2 great tasks to per- 
form in his physical body ere he can gain perfect con- 
trol over it, and without which the Great Initiation 
cannot be passed, namely, the control of the serpent 
power and the attainment of the wisdom it brings. 
For only as this power — under control of the spirit- 
ualized Will — is lifted up and guided until it reaches 
the sacred center between the eyes, can Realization be 
attained and the candidate become as wise as a serpent. 

Another task is to find that center within the body 
where the Bird of Life has its nesting place — the Heav- 
enly Dove whose head is Wisdom, whose body is Hu- 
mility, whose right wing is Life Immortal, and whose 
left wing is Divine Love — and having found this nest 
attain sweet rest "between the wings of that which is 
not born, nor dies." Among the precepts found in 
The Voice of the Silence, 1 written for the guidance of 
those who are nearing the 9th Gate and not applicable 
to nor intended for the guidance of those not definitely 
seeking Initiation, we find the following: "Bestride 
the Bird of Life, if thou would'st know * * * let 
not thy 'Heaven-Born' * * * break from the Uni- 
versal Parent (Soul), but let the fiery power retire 
into the inmost chamber, * * * then from the 

1 Pages 5-9- 10. 



The gth Letter, Teth 329 

heart that Power shall rise into the sixth, the middle 
region, the place between thine eyes." 

This Universal Parent Soul is the same as the 
Mighty Living 1, or the "fiery power," in its universal 
aspect, or as we would say, the Great Creative Christ- 
force. Hence the main point in occult development is 
not to break away from this Christ-power which is the 
mediator between man's personality and his Divine 
Self and the Redeemer of the lower nature. As we 
develop this power we blend with and come under the 
conscious protection of the Mighty Living 1 of the 
Cosmos, who now lives in and acts through us as our 
protector and sustainer, instead of merely overshadow- 
ing and influencing us as in the earlier steps. 

The lesson to be learned from the Bird of Life is 
that of poise. Just as in Initiation there must be an 
absence of all fear and a quiet resting between the 
equilibrated forces of love and life, so must the Soul 
rest between the 2 wings of the Bird of Life. Hence to 
"bestride the Bird of Life" means to be master of life, 
and like the Bird be able to rise at will into the higher 
realms in thought. We can never be a Master of Life 
until we have gained this equilibrium ; so that no 
matter what disturbs us we can rise above it. We 
must hold the picture of ourselves fearlessly standing 
on the back of the Great Bird, holding the reins and 
guiding it, so absolutely poised that we and the Bird 
are 1. 

Another meaning of Teth as a "roof," is that as 
we advance spiritually and approach our Initiation we 
develop a center called by the Hindus the "Siddhis 
center." As this center develops it forms a real pro- 
tecting roof of glory over the head of the aspirant, 
from which there pours down a golden rain of force 
like a fine golden mist which forms the Veil of Pro- 
tection. It is the Banner of Love held over the Saints 



330 The Key to the Universe 

by the Bridegroom spoken of in the Song of Solomon 
(ii, 4). "He brought me to the banqueting house 
(number 9), and his banner over me was love." In 
all pictures of the Saints we see this Banner depicted 
as a circle of gold or a halo of light placed horizon- 
tally just above the head. This should not be confused 
with the nimbus which is placed in the vertical plane 
and represents the scintillating colors of the aura. 
This Banner and Veil of Protection can be consciously 
developed through certain advanced exercises which 
are given to the candidate only by his Guru or 
teacher. 

The letter Teth is also connected with Cosmic 
Electricity. 

"The Ancients represented it (cosmic Electric- 
ity) by a serpent, for Fohat hisses as he glides 
hither and thither, in zigzags. The Kabbalah fig- 
ures it with the Hebrew letter Teth (D), whose 
symbol is the serpent which played such a promi- 
nent part in the Mysteries. Its universal number 
is 9, for it is the ninth letter of the alphabet and 
the ninth door. It is the magical Agent par 
excellence, and designated in Hermetic philosophy 
'Life infused into Primordial Matter,' the essence 
that composes all things, and the Spirit that de- 
termines their form." 2 

In short, Cosmic Electricity is the Initiator of 
Matter. 

As Teth is connected with the sign Leo, the heart, 
it is only by overcoming the forces of the heart and 
making Leo the Lion tame and obedient to the will, 
that the little Christ-child, who is now growing 
stronger and stronger day by day, may lead 
him and make him lie down with the lamb. 
Only thus can we pass the Initiation of num- 
ber 9. Yet the Lion which has become tame 
and obedient must have lost nothing of his 
strength or virility. This is symbolized in the myth 

2 S. D., Vol. I, 105. 



The pth Letter, Teth 331 

of Samson who when he slew the lion found in the 
carcass much honey. 3 So when the candidate has slain 
the passion aspect of the heart-forces which rave like 
a lion, he finds the honey, which is both sweetness and 
food. 

The 9th letter also expresses the idea of Wisdom, 
for the protection or roof must be the result of the 
Wisdom of the Initiate himself. When he has reached 
this step we are told that he must lay down every 
weapon, both of offense and defense. He can no 
longer seek protection from the power of his strength, 
nor can he ask that any being outside of himself shall 
protect him, yet he who has attained unto Wisdom is 
protected from every ill. In Ecclesiastes we read that, 
"Wisdom is a defense. * * * Wisdom strength- 
ened the wise man more than ten mighty men. * * * 
Wisdom is better than strength," etc. 4 When we have 
attained his Wisdom we have learned the lesson of 
the 9th letter and are ready to face the Great Initiator. 

8 Judges, xiv, 5-9. * vii, 19. 




THE 9th TAROT CARD 

THE HERMIT 

1 




MEDIEVAL 



VI 1 1 I X3 




LHERMITE /I 



IX 


^ftjyiflbft 1^x3*8^ 


JbH-iiffi i 


Up 




~* ! 






1a^ 












Jjlt 


THE HERMIT 



EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



The 9th Tarot Card, The Hermit 333 

the 9th tarot card, The Hermit. 

The 9th card of the Tarot is called the Hermit. In 
it we find expressed all the ideas of Initiation, for here 
we have a picture of an old man who, in spite of the 
fact that as he walks he leans upon a Staff, nevertheless 
is strong and upright, with eyes wide open and un- 
dimmed, looking steadily ahead. He is wrapped in 
a long Mantle and in his uplifted right hand carries 
a Lantern. 

The symbology of this card is plain. The age of the 
Hermit denotes not senility, but the strength and vigor 
of maturity, hence experience, discretion and Wisdom. 
The Staff upon which he leans is the Staff of the Patri- 
archs or that divine strength upon which he has 
learned to lean. It is the power of the 1 Life which 
every Initiate must gain through complete mastery of 
the forces of nature. It is also the Magic Wand with 
.which he performs his miracles and by whose use he 
proves to the world that he has passed the Great Initi- 
ation of number 9. It is the power of the 1 Life like 
a staff running through and supporting all. It is 
Aaron's Rod of Power which will never fail him, 
Aaron symbolizing the priestly attributes through 
which the Initiate serves before the throne of the 
Great Law. It is the Shepherd's Crook with which 
he can guide the straying and uplift the fallen. It is 
that which he has tested and proved, for during all his 
long and toilsome journey to the gate of Initiation, 
which now stands open before him, it has never failed 
him. 

The Rod has 7 knots or rings which are the 7 steps 
of purification. The lighted Lamp he holds high above 
his head is the Light of Knowledge, the Lamp of 
Truth or the "Word," i. e., "Thy word shall be a light 
to my path, and a lamp unto my feet." It is the inner 



334 The Key to the Universe 

illumination of 1 who has come off victor. Just as in 
his earlier steps the Light shone above him as the Star 
of Initiation, which he had to follow over deserts, 
morasses and desolate regions without losing sight of 
it, even though at times the dark mists of earth hid 
it from view, so it is still the Light from the 1 Master, 
his own Immortal Self, of which we read: "The light 
from the One Master, the one unfading light of Spirit, 
shoots its effulgent beams on the Disciple from the 
very first. Its rays thread through the thick dark 
clouds of matter. Now here, now there, these rays 
illumine it, like sun-sparks light the earth through the 
thick foliage of the jungle growth. But, O Disciple, 
unless the flesh is passive, head cool, the Soul as firm 
and pure as flaming diamond, the radiance will not 
reach the chamber (the center of Spiritual Conscious- 
ness), its sunlight will not warm the heart." 5 The 
Hermit has let the Light reach the chamber of his 
heart. He has also made it shine in the chamber or 
center of Spiritual Consciousness. Hence the symbol 
of the Light being placed in the lantern, i. e., no longer 
fitful like a distant star, but in his conscious grasp, 
ready to guide him every step of the way. 

The Mantle which envelops him and partially hides 
the lighted Lamp is the Mantle of Discretion with 
which the Initiate must enwrap himself and shield the 
full Light of his Lamp from the eyes of the profane. 
For every Soul must find the Light within himself ere 
he can recognize it in another or even bear its full 
effulgence. 

This card balances the 7th and 8th cards, the Victor 
in his chariot and the Mother-power of Love which 
holds the scales of Justice. It expresses the protection 
of the Initiates who, altho few in numbers as compared 
with the great mass of humanity, are still the Protec- 
tors of Humanity. They stand like a guardian wall 

* The Voice of the Silence. 



The pth Commandment 335 

around mankind. Like watchmen in a tower, their 
Lamps held high, they are ready to fly to help and 
succor every child of man who cries out for Light and 
help, if the light and help are really needed. But even 
this help is given wisely, for there are cases in which 
it is best that the child should learn to help itself, even 
as a loving mother may wisely allow her babe to cry 
itself to sleep, rather than fly to it when she knows that 
it needs nothing but sleep. They remain upon the 
hilltops throughout the long nights of spiritual dark- 
ness, like faithful shepherds watching over their sleep- 
ing sheep, with their Staff ever ready to reach out to 
1 who is slipping and falling, its crook ready to lift 1 
who is torn and bleeding, and their Mantle of Charity 
ready to enwrap those who are suffering from the bit- 
ter storms of passion and desire. But dear student, 
-they are ever wrapped in the Mantle of Discretion, 
hence only those who Dare, Do and Keep Silent can 
ever see the Light of the Hermit's Lamp. 

THE 9TH COMMANDMENT. 

9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against 
thy neighbor." — Exodus, xx, 16. 

Since 9 is the Number of Initiation, 2 pertinent 
questions at once arise concerning the esoteric inter- 
pretation of this Commandment: 1st, who is "thy 
neighbor?" 2nd, what relation does false witness bear 
to Initiation? The Bible description of the man who 
fell among thieves and was rescued by the Samaritan 
answers the 1st question. "Thy neighbor" is anyone 
whom the Great Law brings directly into your Path 
who can be helped by you if you are willing to take 
note of his needs. 

The question as to what false witness has to do with 
Initiation will bear careful analysis. The Soul is 



336 The Key to the Universe 

ready to bear the Great Initiation only when it can 
face itself and see all things in their true relations. 
Over the 1st gateway to the Path there is written in 
letters of gold, "Man, Know Thyself," and when the 
outward comprehension of this injunction has been 
gained, at the very last Gate the Neophyte once more 
faces the same sentence, but now written in letters of 
living fire within his quivering flesh, "Man, Know 
Thyself." 

If we would meet the final test of Initiation unap- 
palled, we must accept this precept and strive diligently 
to obey it. As the disciples and servants of the True 
Self, our senses must be trained not to bear false wit- 
ness. To do this we must not accept as final the re- 
ports of our senses until they have been checked up 
and verified by our reason, experience, judgment and 
discrimination, illumined by our intuition. Few per- 
sons can bear to have the searchlight of Truth turned 
upon their own lives, within themselves. They are 
wont to bear false witness by making excuses and 
blaming conditions or other persons for the results of 
their own shortcomings. At 1 extreme they bear false 
witness in the form of exaggerated humility, scourg- 
ing themselves with the scorpion whips of self-con- 
demnation, looking upon themselves as worms of the 
dust unworthy or incapable of lofty attainments. At 
the other extreme are those who live in a perfect 
glamor of the senses, accepting as right and proper 
whatever report the senses make. They forever focus 
the lime-light of self-approval and admiration upon 
themselves. They are ever posing, dwelling on their 
good points, flattering themselves to themselves, excus- 
ing every shortcoming with some flattering delusion. 
They interpret every phase of life as a stage-setting to 
bring them into more favorable notice. In fact, they 
are forever acting a part which they have assumed so 



The pth Commandment 337 

long that they almost believe in it themselves and 
vainly hope that the world believes it to be their true 
character. All this is bearing false witness to the 
Truth. 

If by any chance such persons should demand to be 
brought into the Hall of Initiation, there to be con- 
fronted with the personality they are really manifest- 
ing, they would be appalled at the sight and refuse to 
admit that it was their own creation. For the 1st 
time they would awake to find their pose revealed, the 
show over and no audience present but themselves and 
their Great Initiator, with all glamor of the senses 
stripped from the reality and standing face to face with 
the self they have manifested. These are the ones who 
fly shrieking in madness from the sight of their 
Dweller. This is the truth back of the many tales of 
the terrifying experiences encountered during Initia- 
tion. For ere this step can be taken the Soul must 
face that which it has created by its "witnessing," 
whether true or false, in everyday life. 

That we may not bear false witness against our 
neighbor we need to reach the point where we do not 
bear false witness against ourselves. Then we are 
able to see clearly and consequently can help our neigh- 
bor. While we should not contemplate or dwell upon 
them, to shut our eyes to truths that are unpleasant or 
to imperfections within ourselves which we know ex- 
ist, is refusing to recognize Truth, hence is bearing 
false witness. While we should mention, emphasize 
and dwell upon the good in our brothers and sisters, 
it is surely bearing false witness to shut our eyes to 
their shortcomings and say that all in them is Good. 
That we may bear no false witness we must learn to 
seek out the true motives, both in ourselves and in 
others. Then we will find that we will no longer 
condemn others, because we will realize how much we 



338 The Key to the Universe 

ourselves fall short of manifesting the ideals we have 
chosen. We will see that every Soul is upon some 
step of the Path, some of which we may have passed. 
And if we have trained our senses not to bear false 
witness we will know what motive was back of the 
effect which our senses report. And by thus working 
from the underlying cause, rather than from the ef- 
fect, we will be able to remedy any failure in ourselves 
and be a help to others. Thus the 9th Commandment 
is given as a preparation for Initiation. 

Strive always to see clearly and bear true witness. 
Then when you face your Great Initiation there will 
be nothing in yourself that has been hidden, denied or 
covered up, hence there will be nothing that can af- 
fright you. For as the Great Initiator holds out the 
Rod of Power he cries with a mighty voice: "Thou 
shalt not bear false witness either against thyself or 
thy neighbor." And only as we are able to meet this 
test can we grasp that Magic Rod. 



CHAPTER 37 

THE NUMBER 10. 

"It is from this Number, 10, or Creative Na- 
ture, the Mother (the Occult cypher, or '0,' ever 
procreating and multiplying in union with the 
unit '1,' or the Spirit of Life), that the whole 
Universe proceeds." 

— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 121. 

"The ineffable Sephiroth are Ten, so are the 
Numbers : * * * ten and not nine, ten and not 
eleven. Understand this wisdom, and be wise in 
the perception." 

— Sepher Yetsirah, 15. 

Number 10 is the Number of Completion or Perfec- 
tion through completion; the assembling of the com- 
pleted parts. It is the grand summit of numbers and 
their completion. It is the number which expresses 
the completion of creation as mentioned in Genesis 
(i, 31) : "And God saw everything that he had made, 
and, behold, it was very good." For number 10 con- 
tains all the digits or creations and returns them once 
more to unity, thus, 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9 + 10 
=55=10=1. Hence Number 10 cannot be surpassed. 
In it we again meet the O °f unmanifested force with 
which we started, and whose emanations we have 
watched evolve through the 9 digits, but now the 1st 
differentiation, number 1, stands at the right of the 
circle ready to begin a new series of manifestation in 
a higher cycle of evolution. 

In other words, the O i n the beginning contained 
all those things which were put aside and left uncon- 
quered and unredeemed during a previous cycle of 
evolution, waiting until the strength and wisdom of 
number 9 had been attained to consciously take them 



340 The Key to the Universe 

up and from them evolve a new series of numbers 
(powers). The 1st number 1 was but a foreshadow- 
ing and prophecy of that which it should become at the 
close of its cycle, just as the "primitive streak" in the 
embryo is a prophecy of the man to be. 

In 10 the O is no longer a Chaos of undifferentiated 
matter, nor a mass of left-overs from a past world 
period awaiting the outpouring of the Divine Creative 
Force of the 1 Life to start it into evolution, but has 
now expressed itself in the perfection of nature and 
man. Man, now become the Initiate, has grasped the 
Rod of Power (number 1) and separated it from the 
overshadowing O of number 9 and, having identified 
himself with the 1 Life, stands at the right hand of 
the now manifested forces of the Q> ready in his turn 
to become the creator or director of the forces which 
are to be manifested during the succeeding cycle. Here 
man as a creator must consciously say "Let there be 
light," with a full understanding of all it implies, and 
by the power of the 1 Life play an active part in the 
downpouring of the Light during the new day-period 
about to dawn. The initiated Man now stands as a 
responsible co-worker with the Divine. It is as 
though during the cycle of 1 to 10 God had held the 
hand of His child and guided it in carving the statue 
or model of the Man to be, the Initiate, while now the 
chisel is left in the hand of the matured youth, and he 
must create from the materials given him in the be- 
ginning the perfect statue whose ideal was set before 
him by the Master Sculptor. In other words, the 
Man must now accomplish for himself, by consciously 
utilizing the strength and power of the 1 Life, which 
during the period from 1 to 9 was evolving him to 
this point. Here he must not only redeem his own 
left-overs, but as an Initiate he must take his place 
with the more advanced Masters in the guardian wall 



The Number 10 341 

around humanity and begin, consciously and volun- 
tarily and because of his great love and compassion, 
to bear the burden of the world's suffering and aid in 
its redemption. 

While the word decad comes from the Greek word 
deka, meaning 10, it was applied by the Pythagoreans 
to the quarternary, an elementary number denoting 
a factor of the Cosmos. And since l-J-2-{-3+4=10, 
the word is correctly used in that connection. "X is 
our sign for TEN, named in the Greek D-EC-a, nam- 
ing the 'God Cross' whose name is X, and who named 
the whole 'D-EC-I-MAL' system, which is built of 
TENs." * 

"This Decad, representing the Universe and its 
evolution out of Silence and the Unknown Depths 
of the Spiritual Soul, or Anima Mundi, presented 
two sides or aspects to the student. It could be, 
and was at first, applied to the Macrocosm, after 
which it descended to the Microcosm, or man. 
There was, then, the purely intellectual and meta- 
physical, or the 'Inner Science,' and the as purely 
materialistic or 'surface science,' both of which 
could be expounded by and contained in the 
Decad. It could be studied, in short, both by the 
deductive method of Plato, and the inductive 
method of Aristotle. The former started from a 
divine comprehension, when the plurality pro- 
ceeded from unity, or the digits of the Decad ap- 
peared, only to be finally reabsorbed, lost in the 
infinite Circle. The latter depended on sensuous 
perception alone, when the Decad could be re- 
garded either as the unity that multiplies, or mat- 
ter which differentiates ; its study being limited 
to the plane surface, to the cross, or the seven 
which proceeds from the ten, or the perfect num- 
ber, on Earth as in Heaven. This dual system 
was brought, together with the Decad, by Pyth- 
agoras from India." 2 

The Pythagoreans made each quarter of the Cosmos 
complete, and argued its completeness from the fact 

1 The Jarvis Letters, v. a S. D., II, 605. 



342 The Key to the Universe 

that 4, being the quartenary and equal to 10, made 
what they called the "all complete." They were apt 
to give extravagant terms to this number in an effort 
to express its perfection. For instance, they are 
quoted as comparing it to heaven, because in it all the 
digits are indrawn for a period of rest, swallowed up 
as it were in Eternity, symbolized by the Q), while the 

1 Life stands beside it ready to begin a new cycle of 
evolution in the 10. 

They also called number 10 Eternity which, having 
neither beginning nor end, is usually symbolized by the 
O alone. It was also called the Sun, for just as the 
sun rises on a new day after a night of darkness, the 
new day bringing with it all the experiences and con- 
tinuing the work of the previous day, so does number 
10 begin for the Soul a new outpouring of divine 
Light, Love and Power with which to accomplish in 
the new cycle. It is also called the Cosmos, because, 
as we have shown, the evolution of the Cosmos and 
man is set forth in the digits from 1 to 9, all of which 
are swallowed up in 10. Aristotle says that "some 
philosophers hold that ideas and numbers are of the 
same nature and amount to 10 in all." 

According to the kabalistic meaning of each number 
we have a beautiful conception of the cycle of 10 and 
what it should mean in man's unfoldment. In num- 
ber 1, which they call the "Crown," Spirit descends 
into matter and offers to man a Crown of Life, but he 
can attain this Crown only as he unfolds and manifests 
the qualities expressed in each of the digits, as follows : 

2 is called "Wisdom," 3 "Understanding," 4 "Mercy," 
5 "Strength," 6 "Beauty," 7 "Victory," 8 "Splendor," 
9 "Foundation." Therefore, only when we can ex- 
press all these qualities can we complete number 10, 
called the "Kingdom." Here we find a corroboration 
of the teaching of Christian Mysticism that while the 



The Number 10 343 

Father has crowned us as his heirs, we are not gods or 
Christs in our present undeveloped state. Only as we 
grow and unfold and express the powers of the 9 
digits can we attain and rule over our "Kingdom" in 
number 10. 

Another appellation given by some mystics to num- 
ber 10 is "the Hand of God." This is explained by the 
fact that "The Great Law manifests in two great 
divisions, positive and negative, referred to in this 
instance as the right hand and the left. The right 
hand represents the Great Law working toward per- 
fection in perfect harmony and without opposi- 
tion, while the left represents the Shadow of 
the ' Law working apparently in opposition to 
Good, but in reality a servant of God (good) 
which through suffering is bringing ultimate 
good out of evil. This latter manifestation is 
termed by some the burnings of Karma, by others 
the fires of hell, etc., but in reality it is but the left 
hand of the Great Law bringing out of all disobedi- 
ence, mistake, rebellion and selfishness lessons which 
shall ultimately bring to perfection and redeem all that 
is in both man and Nature. From another viewpoint 
the Great Law with its right hand pours forth all 
blessings and with its left corrects, adjusts and teaches 
the best use of those blessings ; or with its right hand 
it sows the wheat and with the left pulls up the 
weeds." 3 Also while man needs 2 hands with 5 fingers 
on each to accomplish that which he designs, God, 
holding within Himself the dual forces expressed by 
man and woman, needs but 1 hand, mighty of accom- 
plishment, and represented with 10 fingers instead of 
5. The same idea is expressed in many Hindu statues 
which have 2 or more pairs of hands denoting powers. 
Another phase of the same idea is represented in the 
Greek Titan, Briareus, who had 100 hands. 

Still another expression of the power of the Hand 

8 See lesson The Ancient of Days, 



344 The Key to the Universe 

of God is a great hand with the 2nd and 3rd ringers 
lifted and the thumb folded in the palm. From this 
ancient and mystical idea the position of the fingers of 
the Pope's hand while giving the pontifical blessing 
has been derived. The raised 2nd and 3rd fingers 
symbolize God and perfected Man pouring out their 
blessing. Yet, like all forces manifesting in the physi- 
cal world, this blessing may become a curse according 
to the desire and will of the officiating pontiff. A 
remarkable thing in connection with this position of 
the hand is that its shadow resembles the head and 
horns of the goat Baphomet, the symbol of Black 
Magic. The use of the "shadow of the blessing" was 
supposed to be a legitimate power possessed by the 
Pope, and was most terribly exercised during the Dark 
Ages, in the Inquisition, etc., and woe to him upon 
whom the "shadow of the blessing" fell. We still see 
pictures of this hand with the word "Benedictionen" 
upon it, while upon the shadow is the word "Maledic- 
tus." 

Plotinus taught that number 10 was the Fountain of 
Life or the Fountain of Eternal Nature, the stream 
of the 1 Life forever flowing forth in 2 currents as it 
touched the earth. He also spoke of it as mundane, 
representing the world receiving from the Divine the 
potencies and powers of the Divine through the 9 
digits. For instance, its 2 halves represent man and 
woman (5-f-5==10) , while nature (4) with The Christ- 
life (6) pulsating through it is represented by 4-|-6=10. 
The manifestation of the Trinity and Perfection is 
represented by 3-f-7=10, while duality in its evolution 
toward equilibrium or balance is represented by 
2-f-8=10. And finally, Initiation attained through the 
power of the 1 Life is expressed by 9-j-l=10. 

"The Pillar and Circle (IO), which with Pyth- 
agoras was the perfect number, contained the Tet- 



The Number w 345 

raktys, became later a pre-eminently pliallic num- 
ber * * * amongst the Jews, foremost of all, with 
whom it is the male and female Jehovah. * * * 
'This idea of connecting the picture of the circle 
and its diameter line, that is, the number 10, with 
the signification of the reproductive organs, and the 
Most Holy Place * * * was carried out construc- 
tively in the King's Chamber, or Holy of Holies, 
of the great Pyramid, in the Tabernacle of Moses, 
and in the Holy of Holies of the Temple of 
Solomon. * * * It is the picture of a double 
womb, for in Hebrew the letter He (fl )• is at the 
same time the number 5, and the symbol of the 
womb, and twice 5 is 10, or the phallic number.' 
This 'double womb' also shows the duality of the 
idea carried from the highest spiritual down to 
the lowest or terrestrial plane. 'But the significa- 
tion is that it is androgyne or hermaphrodite, 
that is, phallus and yoni combined, the number 10, 
the Hebrew letter Yod ( i), the containment of 
Jehovah'." * 

Number 10 was given to man as a covenant of 
strength, for if man was given Will alone, without the 
Power to conquer, he would be but the shadow of God 
and not His image. "As there are in man 5 fingers 
over against 5, so over them is established a covenant 
of strength, by word of mouth, and by circumcision of 
the flesh." 5 

In the allegory of Abram and Sarai when Abram 
was 99 years old, that is, when he had passed his 
Great Initiation (99=18=9) and was ready to enter 
upon the new cycle of 10, the Lord or the Great Law 
said unto him, "walk before me, and be thou perfect 
[the 1 before the equals the perfect 10] . And I will 
make my covenant between me and thee, and will 
multiply thee exceedingly." 6 That is, number 10 or 
the new cycle is to bring forth a new progeny, is to 
multiply exceedingly (that is by tens) and by it are 
all the nations of the earth to be blessed. Continuing 

* S. D., II, 486; I, 421. • Genesis, xvii, 1-2. 

* Sepher Yetsirah, 17. 



346 The Key to the Universe 

the allegory, number 10 becomes the "Father of many- 
nations" or cycles of human evolution, each 10 starting 
a new cycle or nation and bringing it back to unity 
again. This covenant was ratified when Sarai bore 
him a son when she was 90 and "well stricken in 
years," i. e., when she had passed through all the digits 
up to 9 she brought forth the 1 which completed the 
cycle of 10. More remarkable still, in the Hebrew, 
Sarai is written SRI and has a numerical value of 
235=10. In the Hebrew SRI is the wife of Abram 
and in the Hindu SRI is the wife of Vishnu. In both 
cases she is the personification of the Feminine Prin- 
ciple of the Godhead and is connected with water, 
gestation and the moon. But she could not bring 
forth until the letter H or 5 had been added to her 
name making it Sarah and increasing it to 2355=15= 
6. Thus Sarai (10) had to be fructified by The 
Christ- force (6) ere she could bring forth and become 
the mother of mankind. This is corroborated by the 
fact that the letter H or He represents Heva, Eve and 
the womb. H also represents a "householder," the 
esoteric meaning of which is to bring forth. There- 
fore both Abram and Sarai must gain the power of 
the letter H or the power of Eve, ere they can "multi- 
ply exceedingly" and bring forth the Children of Israel 
or humanity. With the addition of the H Abram be- 
comes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah, thus com- 
pleting the symbology of a true covenant between God 
and man, i. e., the 10 manifesting on earth as 2 fives, 
male and female, and bringing forth a Son, the 1 in 
whom all mankind shall be blessed. 



CHAPTER 38 

the number 10 — (Continued). 

"Every cosmogony began with a circle, a point, 
a triangle and a square up to number 9, when it 
was synthesized by the first line and circle." 
— The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, I, 341. 

Apuleius, a Platonic philosopher who traveled ex- 
tensively through the East seeking Initiation into the 
Mysteries, has left many useful hints pertaining to 
various ceremonies ; in fact, he won for himself the 
name of "The Evening Star of Platonic Philosophy 
and the Morning Star of the Neo-Platonic." He is 
authority for the statements as to the great import- 
ance placed upon numbers by the Egyptian priests, 
especially number 10, as representing man's fitness for 
the priesthood. 

" The Books of Hermes are the oldest reposi- 
tories of numerical Symbology in Western Oc- 
cultism. In them we find that number ten is the 
Mother of the Soul, Life and Light being therein 
united. For as the sacred anagram Teruph shows 
in the Book of Keys (Numbers), the number 1 
is born from Spirit, and the number 10 from Mat- 
ter; 'the unity has made the ten, the ten, the 
unity.' m 

An Egyptian priest not only had to have absolute 
control over his passions and physical appetites, but 
had also to be learned in the sciences and be an Initiate 
into the Mysteries. Before offering the sacrifice he 
was obliged to fast for 10 days, during which he had 
to conform to a most rigid discipline. 

Among the ancients the zodiac was represented exo- 
terically with but 10 signs instead of 12 as at present. 

» S. D., Ill, 100. 



34g 



The Key to the Universe* 



The signs Virgo, Libra and Scorpio were united in 1 
sign, combining in 1 sign the masculine (Scorpio) and 
feminine (Virgo) united by the sex attraction (Libra) 
balancing the 2. 

That early zodiac represented man before the sepa- 
ration of the sexes, when the androgynous man of 
course combined the 3 now separate expressions of 
life in 1. This is corroborated by the myth of Phae- 
thon, son of Phoebus, who found the Scorpion stretch- 
ing over 2 signs of the zodiac. 2 

Among the Gnostics only 10 Orders of Angelic 
Hierarchies are mentioned as necessary to bring about 
perfection, the 11th and 12th not being mentioned since 
they pertain to the coming forth of the new cycle, just 
as 10 signs really complete the evolutionary cycle of 
the zodiac, while Aquarius and Pisces prepare for the 
coming forth of a new cycle of the sun in Aries. 

"The author of the Source of Measures says 
that the foundation of the Kabalah and of all its 
mystic books is made to rest upon the ten Sephi- 
roth ; which is a fundamental truth. He shows 
there Ten Sephiroth or the 10 Numbers, as fol- 
lows:" 3 




This diagram plainly shows 1st the O of the Un- 
manifested with the 1 Life like a ray of Light cutting 
it into halves. This illustrates in a most simple way 
why, as we have so often said, everything manifesting 
in the mundane sphere must fall under the Law of 
Polarity or Pairs of Opposites. For it will be seen 



See page 253. 



* S. D., II, 40. 



The Number 10 — (Continued) 349 

at a glance that the descent of the 1 Life into mani- 
festation must cleave the homogeneous sphere of the 
Divine and make it 2 or mundane. Meditation on this 
diagram will solve many perplexing questions, especi- 
ally the 1 so often asked: Does sex inhere in the Soul? 
If we let the circle represent the unmanifested Soul, 
1 with God or the Q), and the vertical line the Ray of 
Divinity (Atma), descending into that unmanifested 
germ, dividing it into the 2 expressions of the 1 
(Buddhi, negative; Manas, Positive), it clearly illus- 
trates the law that there can be no manifestation on 
any plane of differentiation except through the union 
of the positive and negative Principles manifested by 
the Soul through the 2 sexes. As the Soul is the 
reservoir for all the experiences which must be com- 
pleted and garnered on earth, only as we experience, 
blend and lift up the lower experiences of the Soul as 
the mind reports them in the separated sexes, can we 
register them in either the positive or the negative 
aspects of the Soul or Higher Self. 

This diagram also explains the idea of the Group 
Soul, for each Divine Ray animates such a circle of 
unmanifested humanity, and ere number 10 can be 
evolved from it and the 1 (Son) stand at the right 
hand of the cipher (Father) all the numerals in the 
separated halves of the circle must each be evolved and 
then indrawn. 

That which is true of the Higher Self is correspond- 
ingly true of the lower personality. Each personality 
is such a circle or cipher and must unfold all the nu- 
merals in itself as qualities, etc. For ere man can be- 
come number 10 or the perfect "all-complete," the 
circle must stand on his left hand while with his right 
hand he grasps the Staff of the Patriarchs or number 
1, the 1 Life with which he shall consciously evolve 
the new cycle. In other words, he must so truly have 



350 The Key to the Universe 

lost his idea of separateness that he is 1 with the 
world (O) and with all that is, his personality swal- 
lowed up and the new O become the workshop in 
which he is to create and bring forth. 

The injunction to overcome the sense of separate- 
ness is apt to bring confusion to many minds, but the 
idea is that while we must realize our oneness with all 
that is, this sense of oneness can be attained only by 
entering into the consciousness of the Higher Self. 
We must be intensely and completely ourselves ere 
we can become 1 with all. Then we are no longer 
like a grain of sand tossed hither and thither by every 
wind that blows, lost in a monotonous sameness of 
shape and characteristics, or 1 of a mass of humanity 
swayed by thought waves not their own, but have be- 
come like a star or planet steadily circling in our 
appointed orbit; consciously expressing our God- 
given powers with a full appreciation of our 
position; shedding our Light, help and influence 
on all because we know our position as an 
integral part of the 1 Life. But since man 
today is but an imperfect reflection of the Higher 
Self we must reverse the numbers in the circle, thus: 




Let us consider physical man as the circle and the 
ray from the Higher Self as the animating Principle, 
1st appearing as a Dot in the center, then extending 
above and below until it separates the sphere into 2 
halves. These halves we will call the personality and 
the Individuality, within which are the potentialities 



The Number 10 — (Continued) 351 

of all the digits. Beginning with 2, the 1st mundane 
number, we evolve inside 1 half until we reach 5 or 
manhood. At this point we become aware of the 
Higher Self (1) and The Christ-force (6) and begin 
to reach upward in evolution until we attain our Great 
Initiation in number 9. Then once more we recog- 
nize, but in a far wider sense, that while we are man 
we have become more than man, just as man is an 
animal, but more than an animal. In short, that as 
man we have within us 2 currents of force fighting for 
mastery, the personality and the Higher Self. From 
this poinf onward there is no progress save as we 
grasp with our enlightened Will the Rod of Power 
and consciously work with the 1 Law, which we now 
see not as a line of separation but as the 1 Life com- 
mon to both the personality and the Individuality. 
Henceforth there is no more separation either from our 
Higher Selves or from all that is. Then will the now 
more than man (what the Kabalah calls the 2nd He) 
send forth his creative Ray and repeat the process. This 
dram? is enacted before our eyes daily in the unfolding 
and evolution of the seed and the hatching of the egg. 
Let us open our eyes to see and our hearts to under- 
stand. 

The circle of the nought or cipher is often alluded 
to as the "Crown" or the "Crown of Ineffable Glory," 
while the 9 digits are represented as brilliant jewels 
or stars in this crown. This is the "crown of life" 
spoken of in Revelation (ii, 10), "Be ye faithful unto 
death (i.e., Initiation), and I (the 1 Life) will give 
thee a crown of life." In the most famous book on 
the Kabalah, called the Zohar or Light, we find that : 

"When He [the Infinite O] assumed the form 
(of the crown, or the first Sephira), He caused 9 
splendid lights to emanate from it, shining 
through it, diffused a bright light in all direc- 



352 • The Key to the Universe 

tions. That is, these 9 with his one (which was 
the origin * * * of the 9), together made 
the 10, that is 0, or @, or the sacred Ten 

* * * and these numbers were 'the Light.' "* 

Among the Hindus number 10 is referred to as a 
magic power. The cipher represents the vast field of* 
man's as yet unmanifested nature and powers, which 
are nothing to him except as by his attainment and use 
of the Rod of Power he brings them into manifesta- 
tion and gives them their proper place in 10. 

Among the Masons number 10 is a sign of union 
and good faith, expressed by the joined hands or the 
Master-grip, the fingers of the 2 hands making 10. 

There are 10 double numbers which add up to 10, 
the 1st digits of each increasing from 1 to 9, the 2nd 
digits decreasing from 9 to 1, thus: 10, 19, 28, 37, 
46, 55, 64, 73, 82, 91. 

THE 10 LEPERS. 

"And as he entered into a certain village, there 
met him ten men that were lepers * * * and 
it came to pass that, as they went, they were 
cleansed. * * * And one of them * * * 
turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. 

* * * And Jesus answering said, Were there 
not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?"— > 
St. Luke, xvii, 11-19. 

In the parable of the 10 men who were lepers, there 
is a mystical reference to number 10 as a complete 
number. There were 10 who were cleansed, *. e., man- 
kind in their evolution have passed through the cycle 
of the 9 digits and lo they were lepers or were joined 
unto death. When the complete number 10 is reached 
The Christ commands these 9 digits that they show 
themselves to the priests, i. e., to the priestly power of 
the illumined intellect, which must now scan all the ex- 
periences of the life — represented by the digits — and 

* S. D„ II, 42. 



The Number 10 — (Continued) 353 

decide if all the leprous tendencies which bound them 
to death have been healed and the sting of death swal- 
lowed up in Victory. When this is done they are 
healed. 

But there, remained only 1 who returned to give 
thanks, hence the question "where are the 9?" was 
not a question of reproach, but a most perti- 
nent 1 calling attention to the fact of the 9 
being swallowed up in the 1 or 10; the fact 
that the Great Initiation was complete. For it 
is as 1 that the cycle of the 9 digits returns to 
give thanks and to start out on a new cycle. Again, 
this 1 who returned was a stranger, a Samaritan. The 
meaning of Samaria is "to guard," hence this 1 is the 
guardian or the manifestor of the experience of the 
cycle of the 9 digits. 

"The 'Boundless Circle/ the Zero, becomes a 
number only when one of the other nine figures 
precedes it, and thus manifests its value and po- 
tency." 8 

While every number 10 is a return to unity, still 
every time it thus returns it brings a new experience, 
which is expressed by the digit which is manifesting 
in the 10, thus : 

Number 1 in 10 is the 1st manifestation of the 
Light. In the 1st day of creation "God said, Let there 
be light ; and there was light. And God saw the light 
[the 1], that it was good" or 10. 

Number 2 in 20 is the separation into the positive 
and negative; the descent of the Light into matter; 
the creation of heaven and earth ; the firmament which 
"divided the waters which were under the firmament 
from the waters which were above the firmament. 
* * * and God saw that it was good" or 10. 

Number 3 in 30 marks the manifestation of the 
Trinity reaching down into matter and expressing and 

8 S, D., I, 125. 



354 The Key to the Universe 

bringing forth. It was on the 3rd day that the earth 
brought forth. "And God saw that it was good" or 
10. 

Number 4 in 40 marks the completion of the physical 
creation. In this cycle the whole path of the earth's 
evolution is marked out and the Foundation Stone laid. 
"And God saw that it was good" or 10. 

Number 5 in 50 marks the perfection of all living 
things. Even man as a perfect animal type is here 
perfected. "And God saw that it was good" or 10. 

Number 6 in 60. In this cycle The Christ-force 
completes the informing or animating of all things. 
Animal man becomes the image of God and is given 
dominion over the earth. "And God saw everything 
that he had made and behold it was very good" or a 
perfect 10. 

Number 7 in 70. On the 7th day God rested and 
handed over to man, now made in His image and hence 
responsible for his future evolution, the reins of gov- 
ernment. Henceforth man himself, with everything 
made for him and placed in the Garden of Eden, must 
tend and cultivate that Garden and rule its animals. 
God saw that this day was perfect or 10, so He blessed 
and hallowed it. Man was not handicapped in any 
way, for all that God had prepared for him was per- 
fect. 

During the cycles beginning with number 8 in 80 
we have to deal with the future of man. For God 
rests, yet watches over His creations, always ready to 
respond to every sincere cry for help. But from 8 
onward man is held accountable for his dominion over 
the earth. In this cycle he must hold the scales, and 
in them must weigh and balance all things ; for only 
thus can his evolution be accomplished. And when 
God sees that there is a just balance and good, he will 
bless it and make it perfect and complete or 10. 



The Number 10 — (Continued) 355 

Number 9 in 90. When this number is reached 
man, having been weighed in the balance and not 
found wanting, must meet the Great Initiator and 
wrest from him his power. And God, knowing that 
this is man's' heritage and that man has reached out 
and touched His robe, has eaten of the Tree of Life 
and "become as one of us," will then pronounce it 
good and bless it and call it perfect, or a complete 10. 

This explanation of the days of creation is so obvi- 
ous that the only wonder h that man can be so blinded 
and waste so much time and fruitless theological dis- 
cussion in the effort to build up such a dogma as 
"original sin," with all its attendant evils, hopeless 
confusion and discouragements. 

The Bible is a most wonderful occult treatise, full 
of cryptic utterances, each sentence expressing vol- 
umes, yet so very clear, once the mind has thrown off 
the shackles of prejudice and the misconceptions due 
to materialistic interpretations and is willing to read 
with open eyes, the while listening to the Still Small 
Voice of the Spirit for the spiritual interpretation — the 
"Spirit who is with thee always, even to the end of the 
world, will bring all things to thy remembrance." 



CHAPTER 39 
the 10th letter, Yod (•»). 

"He produced Yod, predominant in work, 
crowned it, combined and formed with it Virgo 
in the Universe, Elul (Sept.) in the Year, and the 
left hand of Man." — Sepher Yetzirak, 24. 

While Yod is 1 of the 12 simple letters it is 1 of the 
most important, corresponding to the English letters 
I and Y. 1 Its meaning is "the origin of all things," 
for by and from Yod were all the other letters created. 
Its hieroglyph is "the ringer of man," pointing upward, 
the sign of aspiration and also of command. 

Yod represents humanity in its entirety, the 2 ex- 
pressions, male and female (2x5) in the 1. It ex- 
presses all the potencies of the Father (1), but now 
fully expressed in number 10. Here we find the 1 no 
longer piercing the circle of undifferentiated substance 
and starting into evolution all the potencies resting in 
the darkness, but out of the mysterious depths of this 
universe of unmanifested life, the O. a U the numbers 
have now evolved. Hence the 1 has taken its stand at 
the right hand of the O- 

Yod, representing the Active Principle of all life 
manifestations, symbolically stands for the Reincar- 
nating Ego. Just as the 10 recurs again and again 
in its multiples, each 10 symbolizing a cycle of evolu- 
tion and experience, so does the Ego add experience 
to experience throughout the cycles of evolution on its 
journey of unfoldment — its great "Cycle of Necessity." 
And just as each time a 10 is reached its value is 
raised by the power of its new digit (20, 30, 40, etc.) 

* See V. of I., 127-130-1. 



The ioth Letter, Yod 357 

while its greater cycles are indicated by the addition 
of ciphers (100, 1,000, 10,000, etc.), so does the Ego 
pass through its minor incarnations, each domin- 
ated by a special phase of development comparable 
to an added digit. Then at certain cyclic periods 
it reaches decisive or major incarnations in which, like 
the 10, it takes upon itself a continuation of its great 
and original mission in manifestation. This is a new 
and higher cycle, during which it unfolds or adds 
greater and higher aspects of manifestation to its ex- 
perience, just as the number 1 adds more ciphers. 
Each such new cipher means that the Soul has entered 
upon a new and as yet unmanifested experience, a 
higher phase of the old experiences which it has passed 
and successfully expressed. Just as a boy passes and 
successfully manifests all that childhood holds of ex- 
perience for him, then enters upon the experiences of 
manhood, etc., so in a far greater degree does the Real 
Self add cipher to cipher throughout all eternity. And 
like the 1, the Ego expresses these powers in its life 
and manifestation, so that no 1 can mistake an ad- 
vanced Ego for a primitive 1, any more than he could 
mistake a 100 for a 10. 

Just as the individual passes through minor and 
major incarnations or cycles, so humanity as a whole 
passes through minor cycles of unfoldment correspond- 
ing to the digits, and then has its decisive or major 
cycles in which a perfect manifestation of the Divine 
Man or 10 is expressed in the world in the person of 
an Avatar. While the periodic falling away from pre- 
vious religious teachings and principles among sub- 
races and nations may seem like a lapse and a return 
to the barbaric and selfish principle that "might is 
right," still such periods of war and barbarism are but 
the burning up of the chaff of the old cycle, or the 
indrawing of the digits into the Q« 



358 The Key to the Universe 

Every Avatar is the embodiment and expression of, 
and brings to the world, a new cycle or a new O °f 
unmanifested Truth which the nations of the ensuing 
cycle must unfold and manifest to the best of their 
ability. Thus, while all Avatars are perfect and com- 
plete, as number 10 is perfect and complete, still each 
comes with an added cipher. This is why no nation, 
society or individual can really progress while they 
cling to precedent and the traditions of the past. Each 
new age is a new O which can be developed only 
through the Light of The Christ Dot in that Q, which 
manifests through the inspired teachings of that age, 
couched in the terms of its race thought and including 
its most advanced discoveries. In the individual life 
each new step is such a O whose guiding Light is 
Intuition. 

Many critics look upon the Christian religion as a 
failure because most of the so-called Christian nations 
are now not exemplifying its principles in their deal- 
ings with each other, yet it has been and is lived out 
and manifested today by millions of its followers, who 
are the golden grain or the harvest of its cycle. But 
since the burning of the chaff makes a dense black 
smoke, a superficial observer is apt to overlook the fact 
that the harvest of that cycle has been gathered, and 
may think that the field itself is being destroyed and 
that no future crops can be raised, yet in truth the 
burning is but a preparation for the new cycle. 

In the Kabalah the sacred word Yod-He-Vau-He 
represents Jehovah, also God and man, the Higher 
Self and the personal self united by the "bridge" and 
bringing forth the next creation or the 2nd He. Yod 
represents the Higher Self, He or number 5 represents 
the human personality and Vau (6) the link that unites 
the 2. This sacred word therefore expresses all that 
we have said about number 10. Being an expression 



The ioth Letter, Yod 359 

of cyclic law, it embodies the recognition of the divinity 
of man, through the union of the personality with the 
divine Higher Self, the 1 Life flowing unimpeded 
through both and making Man a true representative 
of the 7 fold Elohim, for the "likeness" has now 
evolved into the "image." 

The 10th Sephira unfolds naturally from the 9th and 
thus completes the cycle of The Mystic Rose, as well 
as the decad of the numbers. It is called in the Kaba- 
lah, Malkuth, the Kingdom, also The Queen, Matrona 
or the Inferior Mother, The Bride, also Shekinah, and 
is represented by the divine name "Adonai," and 
among the Angelic hosts by the name Kerubim. 



THE 10th TAROT CARD 

THE WHEEL OF LIFE 



.^^^m^^ 


^^{^£t_3^rM 


KO5 




^WP*? 




A 


■^r^Sr*??^*--^*—^ 


]Q la roue de fortune P 

II 



MEDIEVAL 






EGYPTIAN 



MODERN 



The ioth Tarot Card 361 

the 10th tarot card, The Wheel of Life. 

The 10th card of the Tarot depicts a wheel, called 
the Wheel of Life or the Wheel of Fortune. The 
word tarot itself means a wheel or something that 
rotates, its beginning and end in 1, or endless time in 
eternity. "The importance of the picture of the Orb 
which named all wheels is further shown in the fact 
that human language was made on this Ball, Circle 
and Wheel". Thus ORB-IT names 'the going of the 
Orb', and even the rut in the road made by the wheel 
is called 'Orbita' because the rut shows the route, rute, 
ruis or way, or road of the Wheel. Any schoolboy 
can understand the general plan for the making of 
words on the Sun. The Rota or Wheel, named every- 
thing Rotary and going in rota-t-ion, and that which 
was attributed to the action or causings of the Sun, 
such as rolling, rotting, roasting." 2 

This Wheel or O is pivoted upon the upper end of 
the upright 1 while at the base are 2 entwined serpents, 
representing the 1 Life manifesting as duality upon 
earth. This Wheel is sometimes represented as sus- 
pended between 2 uprights expressing the same 
symbology, but more crudely, for the Wheel of Life 
to be a perfect number 10 must be supported by the 
1 Life, yet must find its base supported in the balanced 
pair of opposites, the 2 serpents. 

Poised with outspread wings above the top of the 
Wheel is the Sphinx, the sign of calm, equilibrated 
Wisdom and Perfect Justice. The figure has the paws 
of a lion and holds a sword in its right paw. It is 
crowned with the symbol of Venus. On the right side 
of the wheel we see Anubis, the Egyptian dog-faced 
god — the symbol of good — ascending, bearing in his 
right paw the Caduceus and having on his head the 
symbol of Mercury. On the left side of the wheel 

8 The Jarvis Letters, xi, 



362 The Key to the Universe 

we see Typhon, the Egyptian god of evil and destruc- 
tion, descending with a trident in his hand. These 2 
figures on the Wheel indicate that good is ever aspir- 
ing and ascending, while evil is ever fleeing before it 
and descending into darkness and disintegration. 

The balanced and reclining sphinx represents the 
supremacy and command which Wisdom has over both 
good and evil. Anubis and Typhon represent the 
opposition of good and evil and indicate that evil must 
descend and be disintegrated that its force may rise 
and manifest as good at the next upward turn of the 
Wheel. It also presents the idea that good must tri- 
umph through aspiration and incessant equilibration. 
The Wheel is the original O which we considered in 
the beginning as the Garden of Eden in which infant 
humanity started out on its "Cycle of Necessity." But 
now the Wheel has become the Law as Karma, "The 
wheel of the good law which grinds by night and 
day." 

THE 10TH COMMANDMENT. 

10. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, 
thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his 
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor 
his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's." — 
Exodus, xx, 17. 

Moses was given 10 Commandments to bring down 
from the mountain for man's guidance. But they were 
written upon 2 tables of stone, 3 again the perfect 10 
separated into its 2 fives, man and woman. 

As number 10 is the Number of Completion, it is the 
ingathering of all experiences into the O °f fulfill- 
ment. Therefore if we have really reached number 10 
there will be nothing of another's to covet, for all things 
will be ours. The thing above all others that will hold 
us back from complete realization of our oneness, both 
with the unmanifested Dot within the circle which is 



See V. of I., Chapter xxv. The Two Tables of Stone. 



The ioth Commandment 363 

ever ready to unfold new and more wonderful fields 
of experience and also with the ingathered experiences 
of the past cycle — symbolized by the 1 which now 
stands at the right hand of the O — is to covet any- 
thing. Even when we have reached the point where 
we are 1 with all that is, this oneness does not mean 
that we as individual Souls shall have every experi- 
ence and pass through every condition, but that we 
shall have just that which belongs to us and is needed 
to round out our experience and fit us for our own 
place in the whole where we will enjoy the fruits of 
the experiences of all the others. To covet that which 
is another's is to lust after it, and as long as we lust 
after anything we are not and cannot be complete or 
at 1 with it. 

This, however, does not mean that we are never to 
seek after, desire or aspire to greater and higher at- 
tainments. There is a great difference between seek- 
ing and finding that which is necessary for our growth, 
and lusting after or coveting something that belongs 
to another, and which we are by no means sure is best 
for us. We are told to grow as the flower grows. 
This means that as we evolve through the 9 digits we 
are to create around ourselves an aura comparable to 
the circle in the 10 and realize that our Real Self is the 
Dot within this aura which must bring all its potenti- 
alities into manifestation by the time number 10 is 
reached. Number 1 may be likened to a gardener 
standing in the midst of a circular field and scattering 
his seeds, while in number 10 the seeds have sprung 
up thickly and borne fruit, leaving no room for the 
gardener, so he now takes his stand beside the fruitful 
field. Within the circle of our aura are the seeds of 
everything needed for our completeness, even though 
as yet unmanifested. Just as the seeds of the future 
world rested in potentiality in the darkness of the O 



364 The Key to the Universe 

in the beginning, so have we all within our Q. And 
as the gods said over the O or unmanifested world- 
stuff in the beginning, so must we say: "Let there be 
light." For we have recognized the radiant Star of 
Initiation as the center of our O an d it is now our 
task to bring into manifestation that which we know 
is within us, be it something necessary for the little 1 
which stands beside the O or f° r the unfolding of the 
Star which shines in the center. 

By the time we have reached the number 10 we are 
no longer children to ask even God for our daily bread, 
for we have passed our Initiation in number 9 and 
must stand alone and consciously create through the 
power of the Dot which we have unfolded within us. 
Jesus standing at this step said: "I have bread to eat 
that ye know not of." We must no longer draw to 
us that which has been manifested by another, even 
though we think we can draw it from the source of 
Divine Supply, for the Great Mother has ceased to 
feed us at her breast, since we have outgrown that kind 
of nourishment. When we were babes we drew our 
supply from that which our mother had gathered, eaten 
and furnished us in the form of milk, but when we 
grow up we must minister to our own needs through 
the exercise of our own powers. Just so when we are 
no longer children spiritually. We must minister to our 
needs by bringing into manifestation, through the 
power within us, the supply which is always present 
potentially in our aura. To do otherwise is to covet 
that which belongs to another, lusting after that which 
is not our own. For we are demanding that another 
furnish us with that which we have the power to mani- 
fest for ourselves. 

We must train our minds to realize that we have 
within the O °f our aura just those forces whose 
manifestation is needed for our unfoldment, and that 



The ioth Commandment 365 

we have the creative power of thought and will by- 
means of which we can and must bring into being, 
from out the seeming nothingness of our Q), that 
which we need 'both for the physical conditions and 
for our spiritual perfection. Many pupils in despair 
cry out: "If the Masters are so powerful and can 
see how hard I am trying and how hampered I am by 
poverty, why do They not give me that which I need 
so sorely? They must know that I desire it only that 
I may do Their work unhampered." But the Masters 
are wise and loving as well as powerful, and would 
rather endure the reproachful complainings of their 
children than take away the very test which above all 
others they need to complete their strength, quicken 
their faith and awaken in them the knowledge that 
they also have within them the power to become 
Masters if they will. Others more orthodox cry: "I 
have prayed to God. I have lived daily with Christ. I 
have striven to use everything I possess for His glory, 
yet why am I still poor, sick, lonely, unloved and for- 
saken ?" The best answer the Church can give is : 
" 'Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.' The more 
you suffer in this life the greater your reward in 
heaven," etc. All this is false witness against the 
loving Christ, and has done more to hold back the 
perfection of the Race than many things called sins. 
The next natural question is, If each Soul has an 
ample supply for all its needs within its own aura, why 
does not that supply automatically manifest itself as 
it is needed ? Because the perfection of the Soul means 
that it must learn, how consciously to use its powers. 
Hence only as we are able to manifest them can we be 
trusted with their use. It is much as though an igno- 
rant maid-servant were offered every up-to-date con- 
trivance to make her work easy, every convenience and 
every comfort, and her mistress should offer to explain 



366 The Key to the Universe 

them 1 by 1, saying: "Whenever you need help just 
ask me to explain the thing you are using; for if I 
tried to explain the use of all at the same time I would 
only confuse and discourage you." And suppose the 
maid, instead of learning to use 1 at a time tucked them 
all away in some dark closet and went on working in 
the same old, hard way. Could the mistress prevent 
the maid from experiencing the unnecessary toil and 
suffering her refusal to learn entailed? Yet this is 
just what many, many complaining Souls are doing in 
their spiritual households. 

The way to make use of our possibilities and expe- 
rience the comforts which our loving Father-in-heaven 
has provided for us, is 1st to say, over and over again 
until we realize it, that all that is needed is already 
ours in potentiality and that it is our present task to 
show our appreciation of our heavenly Father's care 
by bringing out the various powers and forces and 
learning to use them to bring into manifestation our 
supply. We must 1st make a mental picture of just 
what we want and repeat it until we see it clearly, 
saying: "I want to bring this thing out of my dark 
closet and put it to work." If it is money we need, we 
must make a visual picture of it coming to us, not from 
someone else, but from out our own storehouse. We 
must not see it coming to us from another or wait for 
it to be given to us or we will be bitterly disappointed. 
We must see it coming from within our own O as a 
result of the diligent use of all our powers. By so 
doing we will never be tempted to covet that which 
belongs to another, for we will know that our Father 
has placed plenty for us in the dark storehouse of the 
unmanifested and that it is all ours for the bringing out 
into the Light. Therefore, just as we would make every 
effort in hunting for a long buried treasure in a dark 
cellar, so must we turn on the Light within ourselves, 



The ioth Commandment 367 

that the possibility and the means of our attaining it 
may be revealed to us. That is, just as the Light which 
entered the dark O of Chaos in the beginning created 
a world — not out of nothing, but out of the material 
already present in the darkness — so must the Light 
within the center of our O. "The star whose ray thou 
art," reveal to us all that we need to create our world 
and start out on a new cycle of manifestation. Only 
thus can we complete number 10. Until then, once 
we have turned from the lights of the world, the Star 
of Initiation and the Sun of Righteousness will be apt 
to dazzle our eyes and make the darkness of the 
unmanifested seem more profound, while through the 
darkness the muttering thunder will continually rum- 
ble the warning, "Thou shalt not covet." 



CHAPTER 40 

THE JOY OF COMPLETION. 

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 
Serve the Lord with gladness : come before his 
presence with singing. * * * For the Lord is 
good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth en- 
dureth to all generations." — Psalms, i, 25. 

"Believe thou not that sitting in dark forests, 
in proud seclusion and apart from men; believe 
thou not that life on roots and plants, that thirst 
assuaged with snow from the great Range — believe 
thou not, O Devotee, that this will lead thee to 
the goal of final liberation." 

— The Voice of Silence, Blavatsky, 30. 

Since number 10 is Completion it is well to close 
this volume on the 1st cycle of the digits with some 
definite thoughts on the characteristics of Completion 
and how they should be related to our individual lives. 

The attributes of Completion are, 1st, Peace, the 
struggle of accomplishment is over ; 2nd, Harmony, all 
the conflicting elements have found their proper places 
and hence work harmoniously together ; 3rd, Joy, the 
joy of achievement, of attainment; the vibration of 
ecstasy that comes when the creation or outer manifes- 
tation expresses the ideal. Job tells us that when the 
foundations of the physical earth were completed and 
the earth was ready for man, "The morning stars sang 
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." 1 
This creation was accomplished in an outpouring of 
joy, love and harmony, just as today we find the joy 
and harmony in the happy songs of the birds con- 
stantly sending out harmonious vibrations which help 
most materially to unfold and perfect the leaves and 
flowers. In fact, if we are to believe the Bible or any 

a Job, xxxviii, 7. » v > 



The Joy of Completion 369 

other Sacred Scripture, the creation of the earth was 
set to music of the most joyful measure, symbolized 
by the spoken Word. The very rhythm of the earth, 
even the rock strata proclaim it, as well as the persist- 
ent joyousness of all Nature which ever returns to 
smiles after tears. No matter how devastating the 
storm, or how appalling the catastrophe, Nature will 
in a few short months or years heal the ugly wounds 
and cover the scars with living verdure. After the 
tempest and shipwreck, how beautifully the sunlight 
dances upon the waters! After the storm how green 
the leaves, how glad the songs of the birds! 

Joy is the keynote of creation ever proclaiming to 
man God's Divine Plan of peace, harmony and per- 
fection. It is Nature's voice proclaiming the utter 
fallacy of the belief in the supremacy of error or evil, 
telling man that only through joy and peace and 
harmony can completion be reached; that all which is 
apart and cannot vibrate to this joy and harmony is 
ephemeral, to be swept aside as a mere passing phase 
of existence. It is the grand Psalm of Life speaking 
of the unswerving on-going of The Lord of Hosts, i. e., 
the Law of the hosts of the air, the water, the earth, 
and the fire, who has looked upon His works and pro- 
claimed them good. 

"And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which 
the Lord thy God hath given thee." (Deut., xxvi, 11). 
In spite of all that man can do to mar Nature by his 
evil thoughts, his inharmonies, his vile emanations, his 
wars, etc., we still find her persistently smiling, per- 
sistently calling the children of men to rest upon her 
bosom. 

Geologists tell us that the earth was created during 
4 great eras called the Eozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and 
Cenozoic, thus confirming the occult teaching that 4 
is Nature's Foundation Stone upon which the Comple- 



370 The Key to the Universe 

tion of number 10 is to be erected ( l-f-2-(-3-f-4^=10) . 
Through all these long ages while the physical earth 
was passing through its evolution toward Completion 
in number 10, there were terrible upheavals, changes 
and what man might call evils, yet the Sons of God 
spoken of by Job, were not overcome with sorrow for 
that which was swept away to make room for the new, 
but instead they shouted for joy, knowing full well that 
change must succeed change until the completion of 
number 10, because it contains the achievements of all 
the digits, not 1 thing being lost. 

The evolution of the planet has taught us that 
out of imperfection is perfection builded up and 
brought forth, hence there is nothing to grieve 
over or regret if an experience has tended toward 
our perfection and completion, for the earth 
today is of the same substance as that which 
was breathed out as fire-mist in the beginning, but 
under a different phase of expression. We still find 
that it contains all things for man's well being, not only 
food, clothing, healing herbs, etc., but all things needed 
to build his cities, to carry on his commerce and to 
light and cheer him on his way. We also find Nature 
always beautiful and gracious, with ever a mystical 
and magic power to charm. 

While the earth as a dwelling place for man reached 
the completion of the 1st expression of number 10 in 4, 
man, being septenary, must pass through the cycles of 
evolution indicated by the digits up to 7 to reach his 1st 
cycle of completion. Thus the earth reaches its comple- 
tion in 4 periods (1+2+3+4=10), man reaches his 
completion in 7 (1+2+3+4+5+6+7=28=10) and 
Super-Man in 10 periods (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+ 
9+10=55=10). Since Nature has passed her 1st 
cycle she becomes for man a completed Book of the 
Law, "written with the finger of God," in which every 



The Joy of Completion 371 

step of man's evolution is exemplified ; for on his 
higher spiral he must pass through the steps corre- 
sponding to those which brought Completion to the 
Earth. Hence in Nature there is worked out and dis- 
played before man an answer to every problem to be 
met with in his evolution, even though, until man 
realizes his oneness with Nature and his power to affect 
her, he is continually casting the reflection of his own 
inharmonies upon her. 

One of the great lessons written on every page of 
the Book of Nature, and which runs as a golden thread 
through every expression of the 1 Life manifesting in 
her, is the lesson of the joy and gladness and the 
eternal peace and harmony in life ; the ever reverting 
back to joy and harmony after each disturbance of her 
equilibrium, together with the ephemeral and transitory 
nature of all inharmony. This is man's great lesson. 
And until he learns it he will be like the planet while 
forming, i. e., subject to terrible storms, cataclysms and 
disasters. 

Through an almost universal misconception of all 
spiritual teachings, man has been and is inclined to lay 
great stress on the necessity of suffering; in fact, this 
phase of spiritual teaching has been carried to such 
great extremes that it has been looked upon as meri- 
torious to suffer., 7 Man has even used his intellect and 
will to devise tortures for his body and for his mind, 
thus deliberately setting himself up as critic and judge 
of that which God has created, forgetting that man is 
made in God's image and that man's physical body is 
necessary to complete God's expression in matter. Just 
as a physical planet was needed to give God a field of 
action on the physical plane, and just as God made 
the physical planet beautiful, harmonious and complete, 
so must man's body be beautiful, harmonious and com- 
plete ere he can be said to have laid the physical foun- 



372 The Key to the Universe 

dation on which the Super-Man can begin his evolu- 
tion. 

Remember that even the highest and purest inspira- 
tion must be interpreted by the brain of the 1 giving 
it out, hence only that which is found written in, 
and can be proved by, the great Book of Nature, 
can be absolutely depended upon. This Book of Nature 
each Soul must ultimately learn to read for himself. 
No matter how high or advanced the Teacher, the only 
perfect teaching is to show man how to decipher and 
interpret the Book of Nature for himself. If this were 
done there could not be such a wide gulf between 
science and religion. Hence in our contemplation of 
number 10 we wish to turn from the interpretation of 
the Book of Life as sorrow and suffering and empha- 
size the gospel of Joy; to reiterate again and again 
that as long as we dwell in the thought of sorrow or 
permit ourselves to believe that the only way to evolve 
God-ward is to trample on His gifts, to insult Him with 
the idea that all the beauty and perfection and joy of 
life have been evolved through ages of growth, not to 
make man's pathway through these lower levels of 
evolution more joyful and to teach him of the grand- 
eur and goodness of the wonderful overflowing gra- 
ciousness of Divine Love "that would not that any 
perish but all have eternal life," but that all this won- 
derful stage setting was elaborated merely as a tempta- 
tion ; to hold man back ; to make his struggles harder ; 
that we must expect to suffer, etc. 

As long as the teachers of religion make its 
living a dark, hopeless sacrifice, telling man he 
must give up all joy, all ease and comfort — all 
that God had so carefully and bountifully pre- 
pared for the happiness of his children — and must 
spend the rest of his life in scourgings, either of 
the flesh or of the mind, they are demanding something 



The Joy of Completion 373 

which is not in the scheme of God's Law; something 
not necessary but inimical to man's Completion ; some- 
thing not written in the Book of Nature. Hence it is 
natural for the whole mind and inner consciousness of 
man to rebel. 

Because man for a time believes what is taught 
him, he is overcome with a sense of his utter un- 
worthiness, but later on when he finds that he cannot 
easily kill out the joy of life which is innate in him, 
he turns away from the gloomy picture of religion as 
a sacrifice, and pushes aside what he is taught are the 
demands of his Soul, until he has enjoyed the beautiful 
world and has listened to the natural cry of his senses 
for a time. Because he is taught that all the beauty 
and enjoyment of life are wrong, he separates Divine 
Love from life ; separates life from God, looks upon 
joy as evil. The world of beauty he is taught to con- 
sider a temptation, a field in which he can revel only 
as a traitor to his divine nature, a field in which to 
express only his lower instincts. So with his higher 
nature pushed back he goes forth to indulge his 
lower nature and its appetites, to kill and slaughter 
birds, animals and his fellow men ; to spread death and 
disaster wherever his foot has trodden. Because he 
is taught that the gold and wealth stored up for his 
use are inherently evil, are put there but to tempt his 
greed and avarice, he turns his back on the good that 
the wealth of nature was intended to bring about and 
tries to grasp all he can; tries to enjoy in his own 
selfish way all that wealth and power can give him. But 
the Law is inexorable and everything that inter- 
feres with the peaceful and harmonious joy of life 
and with evolution must be ruthlessly swept aside and 
Nature allowed to return again to smiles. 

Soman's misguided religious teaching and selfish- 
ness, which have turned the gifts of God into 



374 The Key to the Universe 

instruments of self indulgence, must be swept 
away. This is done by war, famine, pestilence 
and all manner of evils. Who dare say, how- 
ever, that these are intended as part of God's plan, 
and are necessary to man's Completion? They are 
only the inevitable result of man's own perversion of 
God's laws and gifts. Who shall say that those well 
meaning teachers whom Jesus called "blind leaders of 
the blind," who have impressed on the world for so 
many long ages the desirability of suffering and have 
made religion such a dark picture that man has 
rebelled, are entirely blameless ? 

The humanity of the world as a whole will never 
reach Completion in number 10 until the leaders and 
teachers permit The Christ to anoint their eyes, that 
they may be healed of their blindness and look in 
Nature's Book for the interpretation of the inspira- 
tion given them, and learn to read with the open eye 
of Spirit. Once this is done they will teach man the 
gospel of Joy; teach him to look for the 1 Life, the 
Spark of spiritual oneness in all things ; teach him that 
man is made in God's image, hence all things in him 
are expressions of the Divine, when put to their proper 
uses ; that religion is seeing the Divine back of all and 
manifesting it in the life; that nothing that is selfish 
is in reality joyous, nor can it endure, but that real joy 
is the enduring reality of vibrating in harmony with 
the divine ideal. Then Number 10 for man will bring 
beauty, joy, peace, harmony, love, understanding, dis- 
cretion, wisdom, realization and Completion. Then with 
the Sons of God man can shout for joy and sing under- 
standingly the hymn he now sings with little real 
appreciation : 

"Joy to the world ; the Lord has come. 
Let earth receive her King, 
Let every heart prepare him room, 
And heaven and nature sing." 



The Joy of Completion 375 

"Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt 
thou be in the field, blessed shalt be the fruit of thy 
body, and the fruit, of thy ground, and the fruit of thy 
cattle; the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy 
sheep ; blessed shall be thy basket and thy store, blessed 
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt 
thou be when thou goest out, the Lord shall cause thine 
enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before 
thy face ; they shall come out against thee one way, and 
flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command 
the blessing upon thee in thy store-houses, and in all 
that thou settest thine hand unto." 2 

"The man of sorrow and acquainted with grief" 
must be crucified that the Divine Christ, the Son of 
God, may manifest in Completion and sit forever at the 
right hand of his Father, where he is lifted up and 
shines as the Spiritual Sun in the divine world, draw- 
ing all men unto him. "Weeping may endure for a 
night but joy cometh in the morning." (Psalms, 
xxx, 5.) 

3 Deuteronomy, xxviii, 3. 



END OF VOLUME I. 



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APPENDIX 

TO THE SECOND EDITION 

In response to the many inquiries received since the First 
Edition was published in regard to our teachings as to the 
"other and higher uses" (page 35) of the Creative Force 
besides that of procreation, we would say that it must be 
remembered that the Creative Force is the Divine Creative 
Power of the Godhead, "that fructifying and vivifying Power 
through whose action all things are brought into manifesta- 
tion" (30), and that it becomes sex-force only when focused 
in and acting through the sex centers. When acting through 
other centers, for instance through the brain or hands in 
literary or musical composition, planning a building, painting 
a picture, modeling in clay, designing a dress or any other 
form of creative work — not mere physical exercise — it is 
still the Divine Creative Force that is being used, but it is 
not sex-force because it is not functioning through those 
centers. Keep this fundamental conception in mind. 

The main object of our teaching has always been to help 
the great mass of married people who are advancing spirit- 
ually and who desire to live as highly a spiritual life as pos- 
sible, yet who are neither advanced enough nor strong 
enough to live a strictly celibate life without sexual inter- 
course. Hence the teachings aim to show how to take the 
simpler steps before attempting the more advanced. The 
first step is to eradicate the idea that there is anything impure 
or evil about the sex relation in itself (See 283). It be- 
comes impure and evil only when thought of as impure and 
used merely to minister to lust and not as an expression of 
pure love between lawfully married couples. When we say 
lawfully married we mean made one in the sight of both 
God and man. For while the mere repetition of a marriage 
ceremony, differing as it does in many countries, is not of 
itself a true marriage — and by a true marriage we mean "a 
true marriage of the Soul, not a mere union of the sexes" 
(84) — and granting a true marriage to be one of divine com- 
plementation, nevertheless it is not a true marriage on earth 
until solemnized and recognized and legalized according to 
the laws of whatever country the couple may be living in 
(See 85). Only under such circumstances is a sexual union 
permissible. And even under such conditions, if impure 
(376) 



Appendix 376# 

thoughts concerning it are held by one or both of the parties, 
especially during the union, it becomes impure. Our aim is 
therefore to teach those who are not ready for the more 
advanced steps to purify and uplift their union by holding 
thoughts of purity, love, peace and harmony concerning it. 

The second step is to teach them to moderate and control 
it and transmute it, as long as they feel that they need its 
expression. It may be limited to procreation by those who 
have so controlled it that they can limit its expression to 
once in two or three years, naturally and without sense of 
repression and without creating inharmony and perhaps break- 
ing up the home and family life. For those who cannot thus 
limit it naturally and harmoniously, it can be transmuted and 
used on the higher planes — through the directing power of 
thought and high ideals — to create in the higher realms the 
mental and spiritual qualities and bring forth the ideals they 
most desire to manifest in their lives. This is not using sex- 
force for spiritual development, but is using the Divine Cre- 
ative force. This, together with the exchanging and balancing 
of the positive and negative magnetic and psychic currents, 
etc., is what we mean by saying that it has "other and higher 
uses" than procreation ; for we have seen the ''procreation 
only" doctrine break up many otherwise happy families and 
cause untold misery among others, all of which is unneces- 
sary. Even if one of the two is unwilling to join in the 
ideals of transmutation, the other alone can accomplish a 
great deal by holding those ideals, not in rebellion but in love 
and harmony, during the union. 

For the unmarried or for those who for any reason, karmic 
or otherwise, are temporarily separated from their comple- 
mentary mates, transmutation through the other channels men- 
tioned above is, of course, the only method of expression 
open to them. Very often because one has refused to listen 
to the inner guiding Voice or because passion or worldly ends 
have blinded them to the inner guidance, they find themselves 
married in a merely earthly sense to one whom they realize 
is not their true mate, and later find in another, one whom 
they recognize as the true mate. Such a mistake can in no 
wise excuse a violation of their marriage vow — certain modern 
doctrines of so-called "freedom" in this respect we regard as 
false and most pernicious — in fact such a recognition makes 
more binding the law of the land ; for since such couples are 
joined only by the law of man and not by divine harmony and 
love, and since they have voluntarily submitted to it, they must 
be true to its mandates until the same law sets them free. 



3766 Appendix 

On this point we admit no latitude whatever. Transmutation 
can be accomplished alone, but it is much slower and more 
difficult than when each has the help of the other. The 
method of this transmutation is fully dealt with in the chapter 
on "The Sex Problem" in our Letters from the Teacher. 

The third step can be reached only by the comparatively 
few, the stage in which the force is not merely controlled and 
purified, but in which even the desire for physical union is 
transcended or outgrown ; not merely repressed and denied 
with great struggle, but is no longer felt, i. e., it is truly 
mastered. Here the desire for physical union has been trans- 
muted into aspiration or desire for union with the Divine, 
the Higher Self. When this stage is reached all the neces- 
sary exchange of magnetism can be attained by mere social 
contact with each other. Even here great discretion must 
be used and each must be faithful to his or her true mate, 
for when magnetism has become the vehicle for the exchange 
of the positive and negative forces it is just as much adultery 
to mix magnetism promiscuously as it would be on the lower 
plane to mix sex-force. 

When this stage is reached all the forces can be used in 
the higher realms without feeling any call from, hence with- 
out denying or repressing, the sex centers. And since there 
is no desire for physical union, there is no suppression or 
repression and no inharmony arises, and both work as nor- 
mally together in this higher relation and both are as fully 
satisfied by this relationship as they were in the lower stages 
while attaining to it. At this stage it must be firmly under- 
stood that "Whom God hath joined together, let no man put 
asunder." For when two Souls have reached this stage of 
oneness there can be no more putting asunder or divorce. 

To teach indiscriminately to the spiritually undeveloped 
that they must refuse the natural demands of their lawfully 
wedded mate — in many cases brought to our attention, the 
demands of the wife have been as insistant as those supposed 
to be made only by men — before their mate understands 
what it is all about or is willing to accept it and still desires 
the usual normal' relations and is not ready for either trans- 
mutation or regeneration, such teaching, we repeat, in our 
experience is the cause of greater inharmony and evil than 
that which it is designed to correct. The effect on the aver- 
age husband is either to cause the greatest inharmony and 
unhappiness or to cause a separation, in many cases driving 
him outside the family for what he considers "his rights," 
or it completely breaks up the otherwise happy family 



Appendix 3/6^ 

through divorce. The effect on the woman, since in most 
cases her denial merely results in suppression unless really 
transmuted, is to fill her mind and entire outlook upon life 
with thoughts of sex when she should be turning her mind 
away from it. Even the very effort to avoid it is but focus- 
ing her mind upon the subject and so saturating her aura 
with it that she becomes a greater attraction for and an easy 
prey to obsessing entities from the astral world, who are ever 
seeking just such gratification, thus depleting her physically 
as well as astrally and magnetically. Of this we have had 
ample evidence from the cases who apply to us personally 
for help in nearly every city in which we have lectured, and 
by letter from almost every part of the world. Therefore 
we say there can be no hard and fast rule or forcible denial 
for all stages of development, except the rule of purity, nor- 
mality, moderation, harmony and love, any more than we can 
expect the same standard of conduct from children of all 
ages, except in the fundamentals. We therefore maintain 
that there must be at least three stages in the mastery of 
this force: First, Purification of body and mind; second, 
Transmutation or diversion from the lower centers by use 
through the higher ; and third, Regeneration or the conscious 
and harmonious use of the forces by both in the higher 
realms. This is not sex worship or phallicism. 

To endeavor to kill out or suppress this function or so to 
fear it that the very sight of the opposite sex precipitates the 
thoughts to the sex and passion level is not the way to Mas- 
tery. True Mastery or Regeneration can only be attained 
by two Souls working in unison and harmony, both desiring 
only the higher uses of the Creative Force and working 
toward it without strain and without striving to force them- 
selves beyond their normal stage of development, as evi- 
denced by the character of their desires. 

In reply to many questions we would say that we do not 
approve of Dr. Stockham's book, "Karezza," because its 
conclusion is unnatural and abnormal and in many cases has 
simply become a means of ministering to indulgence, since 
the mind and thought is concentrated on the act instead of 
being centered above the physical union so that the act and 
the union itself is forgotten in the concentration on the 
higher ideals. 

In conclusion, our main plea is, first, be natural and normal 
but pure and wholesome in your relations ; second, purify 
and uplift your mind and thought concerning those relations 
until the mere physical expression is no longer necessary 
or desired. Only then are you ready for a higher step. 



INDEX 



A, the lungs as, 69; meaning of, 68. 

Aaron, symbology of, 333. 

Ab, month of, 320. 

Abram and Sarai, 355. 

Abraham and Sarah, 187. 

Abyss, the great, 27, 263. 

Acheron, river, 150. 

Adam, names animals, 172; number of, 

323. 
addition, occult, 135. 
Adonai, 359. 
adultery, 282. 
Agathodaimon, 31. 
Age of Fable, quoted, 227, 253. 
Age, the Iron, 70, 272. 
ages of man, 150. 
Aglaea, 319. 
Agrippa, Henry Cornelius, quoted, 237, 

324. 
Ainos, of Japan, 20. 
Akerne, Zeroana, 29. 
alcohol, use by mediums, 53. 
Alcyone, 270. 
Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, 69, 137, 

211-15. 
Alecto, 319. 
Aleph, Chapter 7; Bateleur, 67; Breath 

of Life, 69; Cain and Abel, 69; letter 

A, 68; man, 70; Mem and Shin, 119; 

ox Taurus, 69. 
Alpha, 70, 163. 
Alwen, and Kilhweh, 321. 
Amos, quoted, ix. 
amulet, 317. 
Anail, Mercury, 222. 
Ancient of Days, The, quoted, 230, 247, 

343. 
Angels, of the 7 Churches, 221-2. 
Anguinum, the Druid, 40. 
animals, 4 sacred, 143; 3 symbolic, 106. 
Antares, 137. 
Antaskarana, 196, 263. 
Anteros, 40. 
Antigonus, 182. 
ants, and Psyche, 202. 
Anubis, 361-2. 
Anupadaka, 55. 
ape, symbol of the, 322. 
Apollo, 225-7. 
Apollonius of Tyana, 309. 
Apostles, the 4, 146. 
Apuleius, 347. 
Aquarius, 137, 348. 
Ariadne, thread of, 252. 
Aries, 186-7-8. 

Aristotle, method of, 341, quoted, 342. 
Armageddon, 262. 
Armies, Celestial, 274. 
arrow, symbol of the, 91; of Zain, 

277-8. 



Aseshra, Egyptian, 209. 

astral, body, 256; cord, 257. 

astronomy, recent discoveries, 104, 272. 

Atlanteans, 274. 

Atma, 266. 

atom, not matter, 17. 

Atonement, the vicarious, 263. 

Atropos, 319. 

AUM, 130-2. 

aura, Chapter 4: as circle, 59; create 

our, 363; doors broken open, 53; 

have all in, 364; Principles in, 266. 
Avatar, 56; 357-8. 
axis, 1 the, 65. 

B 

B, meaning of, 90. 

balance beam, man the, 173; number of, 
286; of 8, 302. 

Balzac, quoted, 17, 23. 

Banner of Love, 329-30. 

Baphomet, goat, 344. 

Baptist, John the, 111. 

basket, the inexhaustible, 321. 

battle, the great, 262. 

Bear, the Great, 271-2. 

Beast, worship of the, 22. 

Beasts, the 4, 145-6-9. 

Beauty, number of, 342. 

bees, from Venus, 202. 

Bel, Temple of, 37. 

Belshazzar, vision of, 174. 

belt, Druid, 322; power, 289; symbol 
of, 36. 

Belus, 285. 

Benhadad, 314. 

Beth, 90. 

Bible, an occult book, 355. 

Binah, liberty, 206. 

Binary, the, 85. 

Bird, of Life, 43, 285; bestride the, 
328-9; nesting place of, 328; Vermil- 
lion,_ 254. 

birth, in weeks, 234-5. 

black, esoteric use of, 209; 344. 

Blavatsky, Mme. and number 7, 239. 

blessed, shalt thou be, 375. 

blessing, shadow of the, 344. 

blind, leaders of the, 374. 

blood, and Mars, 302. 

boasting, 312. 

body,astral, 231, 256; mental, 231; 
desire, 258; physical, 231, necessary, 
266, 371: renewed, 235; 1st Princi- 
ple, 255; construction, 231. 

Book, the Great, 244, seals of, 245-6; 
Nature a, 370-1-2. 

Book of Adam, 75. 

Book of the Dead, quoted, 47, 57, 221, 
293. 



378 



Index- — Continued 



Book of Enoch, quoted, 143-4, 202, 267. 

Book of Hermes, 75, 291, 347. 

Book of Keys, 347. 

Book of the Law, 97. 

Book of Life, 48. 

Brahmans, 154. 

Bread of Life, 153. 

Breath of Life, 69, 186; number of, 

287; number 8 as, 294; prana the, 

257. 
Briareus, 100 handed, 343. 
Bride, the, 359; of the Church, 208. 
Bridegroom, the, 330. 
bridge, 196, 263-4. 
Bruno, Giordano, burned, 17. 
Buddhi, 231, 265. 
Bushmen, of Australia, 20. 

c 

Caduceus, 80, 222, 361. 

calf, the golden, 94. 

Calliope, 319. 

Cancer, 296-7-8. 

Candle, of Hermes, 307. 

candlestick, symbol of, 240-3-7; 275. 

Capricorn, 178. 

Car, Solar, 322. 

cards, playing, Clubs, 79; Diamonds, 80; 
Hearts, 77; Spades, 78. 

Carlyle, quoted, 170. 

castes, or humanity, 154. 

Castor and Pollux, 42. 

cat, symbol of, 45; tri-colored, 47; 
use of, 46. 

cattle, dumb, driven, 193. 

Causal Soul, 55-6. 

cells, in Grand Man, 303; change, 235. 

Cenozoic Age, 369. 

center, Siddhis, 329. 

centers, 7 sacred, 223. 

chaff, being burned, 358. 

Chaldeans, 600 year cycle of, 208. 

Chariot, 7th card, 281. 

Cherubim, 150, 359. 

Chokma, 84; necessity, 206. 

Christ, The, hour, 318; lo here is, ix. 

Christ-child, the, 123; conceived, 318. 

Christ-force, the, creative, 30; Creative 
Ideation, 34; Great, 329; number of, 
171; sex an expression, 34; Urge back 
of evolution, 138; Urge to Manifest, 
34. 

Christ-principle, 265. 

Christ-seed, 40-3; 226. 

Chronus, 70, 163, 306. 

Church, answer of the, 365; Druid, 
33-5, 274, 322. 

ciphers, addition of, 357. 

circle, symbol of, Chapters 2, 3, 4; 
Abyss, Boundless Space, Deity, Time, 
veil, 27; Chaos. Waters of Great 
Deep, 26; boundless, 353; definition 
of a, 29; digits in. 45; Druid, 36; 
evolving in, 351; Garden of Eden, 
29, 362; no longer Chaos, 340; num- 



ber of, 323-4; number 6 and, 209; 
source, 30; squaring the, 150; Womb 
of Nature, 30-9. 

civilization, 4 stages of, 155. 

clairaudience, 175. 

clairvoyance, 175. 

clavicles of Solomon, 75. 

Clio, 228, 319. 

Clotho, 319. 

Clubs, 79; dimensions of, 325. 

Cocytus, river, 150. 

colors, of spectrum, 223. 

columns, Jakin and Boas, 98. 

Comforter, number 3, 116. 

Commandment, 1st, 71; 2nd, 92; 3rd, 
130; 4th, 162; 5th, 191; 6th, 216; 
7th, 282; 8th, 302; 9th, 335; 10th, 
362. 

Completion, attributes of, 368; number 
of, 339; of earth, man, Super-man, 
370. 

condemnation, self, 336. 

consciousness, center of Spiritual, 334; 
7 states of, 231; Spiritual Self-, 260. 

Constantine, monogram of, 76. 

Conqueror, the, 281, 296. 

cord, the astral, 257. 

/ Corinthians, quoted, 287. 

II Corinthians, quoted, 196. 

corn, 7 colored, 239. 

Cosmos, number of the, 322, 342. 

covenant, with Abram, 345-6. 

covet, thou shalt not, 362. 

creation, days of, 136, 232, 353-4; 
number of, 219. 

crocodile, 178. 

Crook, Shepherd's, 333. 

cross, cosmic symbol, 85; cube un- 
folded, 140, 197; Egyptian, 138; 
evolution from Tree, 32; forms of, 
140, 197; in heavens, 137; no man 
on the, 138; not arbitrary, 137; per- 
sonality on the, 318; of Palenque, 
139; sentences on the, 241, 318; 
Solar, 99. 

Crown, of Glory, 351; 1 the, 342; 
Triple, 97; with 12 points, 129. 

Crozier, 79. 

crucifixion, 99; allegory of, 263. 

Cup, symbol of, 77; to Know, 77. 

Cupid and Psyche, 202. 

curse of Eden, 177. 

cursing, 133. 

Cycle of man, nature, Super-man, 307; 
of life begins, 318. 

Cycle of Necessity, 356, 362. 

D 

Daleth, 161. 

Daniel, quoted, 37, 123, 174. 

Dare, to, 78, 145, 335. 

day, the Lord's, 163-7. 

Days, of Creation, 6, 136, 232, 353-4. 

days of week, 163, 238. 

decad, 341. 



Index — Continued 



379 



decimal, esoteric, 21: meaning of, 275. 

Deity, 4 letters of, 148. 

denied, nothing, 338. 

Deuteronomy, quoted, 369, 375. 

destiny, 263. 

Devachan, 43. 

Devas, 311. 

development, "sitting for," S3. 

Devil, 283. 

Dhyanis, 6th Group of, 204. 

Diamonds, 80. 

dice, origin of, 238. 

digits, higher cycle of, 327; in circle, 
45. 

Disraeli, quoted, 163. 

divorce, do not hurry, 113-4. 

Do, to, 79, 145 ; 

doctrine, meaning of, 103. 

Doctrine, The Secret, see Secret Doc- 
trine. 

Dog, Herm-Anubis, 106. 

dogs, the 9, 321. 

Dot, above marriage, 109; the over- 
shadowing, 107. 

Dot in Circle, Chapter 5; as Sun, 
Jacob, Jesus, 57; Causal Soul, 55; 
end of axis, 59; in triangles, 250; 
meaning of, 58. 

Dove, the Heavenly, 43, 60, 328; 
meaning of, 275; of Orion, 275. 

doves, Druid, 322. 

Dragon, Polar, 271. 

dream, of Pharaoh, 240. 

duality, 82. 

Dweller on the Threshold, 289; stories 
of, 337. 

E 

Eagle, Scorpio, 129, 161. 

ear, meaning of, 35. 

ears, asses', 227. 

Ecclesiastes, quoted, 331. 

echinus, fossil egg, 33. 

Eden, Garden of, 29, 30; curse of, 177; 
return to, 284; rivers of, 149; rule 
it, 354. 

Ego, is flame, 263. 

egg, symbol of, Chapter 3 ; Easter, 
Eros, 33; golden, 43-4; of Night, 33; 
hatching of, 234, 351; individualiza- 
tion, 87; Ra in, 57; serpent's 33; 
symbology, 43-4. 

Egypt, Israel and, 321; symbol of, 123. 

8, number, Chapter 31, 285; sinister, 
286; Splendor, 342. 

8th card, 301; letter, 296. 

80, number, 353. 

El Chai, 307, 328. 

Elect of the 9, 321. 

electricity, Cosmic, 330; result of, 116. 

elementals, signature of the, 204. 

Elements, The, quoted, 149. 

Eloah Va-Daath, 207. 

Elohim, the 7, 219.. 

embryo, hatching the, 234. 



Emperor, The, 161. 

Empress, The, 129. 

enchanter, number of the, 321. 

Encyclopedia Britannica, quoted, 151, 

272 
Enoch, Book of, quoted, 143-4; 202; 

229; 267. 
Eozoic, age, 369. 
Ephesians, quoted, 311. 
equality of men, 154. 
equator, 86. 
Erato, 319. _ 
eras, geologic, 369. 
Eros, 40-1. 

esotericism, symbol of, 191. 
eugenics, 111. 
Euphrates, river, 149, 150. 
Euphrosyne, 319. 
Europa, myth of, 211. 
Euterpe, 319. 
Eve, from Adam, 99. 
evil, created by man, 34; from North, 

143. 
evolution, law of, 95; number of, 285. 
Exodus, quoted, 130, 191-9, 216, 282, 

302, 335. 
experiences, expressions of _ law, xiii. 
eye, light of, 212; meaning of, 35; 

needle's, 295; of Taurus, 211. 
eyes, center between, 328. 



famine, days of, ix, xi. 

fasting, cycles of, 153. 

fatality is, 206. 

Fates, mother of the, 41, the 3, 319. 

Father-principle, 192; 264. 

feather, symbol of, 37, 293, 322. 

field of humanity, 298. 

50, number, 353. 

finger, the Saturn, 316. 

fingers, of man, 171-2; raised, 344. 

Fire-breath, 176. 

Fire Signal, 274. 

fires, the 49, 223; 255. 

Fish, the Southern, 137. 

5, number, Chapter 18; balance, 173; 
Host, 173; humanity, 160; letter He, 
186; rules marriage, 173; Strength, 
342. 

Fohat', 251; hisses, 330. 

Fomalhaut, 137. 

food, must supply own, 364. 

Force, Great Creative, 282-3. 

forests, sitting in dark, 368. 

40, number, 353. 

Foundation, number of, 342. 

4, number, Chapters, 15, 16; ages of 
man, 150; castes of humanity, 154; 
fertile, 135; geometrically, 136; Key 
Keeper, 148; letters of Deity, 148; 
mean between 1 and 7, 140; Mercy, 
342 ;_ physical plane, 135; stages of 
civilization, 155; watches, 318; watch 
hours, 150. 



380 



Index — Co ntinu ed 



Four Winds, The, quoted, 144. 
Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, 

quoted, 27, 197-8; 289. 
free, to be, 305. 
furnace, fiery, 121, 294. 



Gabriel, 144; the moon, 222. 
Galahad, Sir, 78. 
gambling, numbers in, 22. 
gate, last, 336; 9th, 327, narrow, 292. 
gates, the 7, 248. 
Gemini, 42, 84, 277-9. 
generation, to regeneration, 31. 
Genesis, quoted, 172, 220, 339; 345. 
Genii, 311. 

Gentiles, symbol of, 123. 
Geometer, the Great, 25. 
geometry, of manifestation, 24. 
gestation, number of, 232. 
Gihon, river, 149, 150. 
Gimel, letter, 125. 
girdle, 269. 
globe, winged, 285. 
Gnomes, 204. 
goat, 106. 

God, a circle, 26; jealous, 94; signa- 
ture of xiii. 
Graces, the 3, 319. 
Grail, the Holy, 78. 
Great Book, The, quoted, 245-6; 270. 
Great White Throne, The, quoted, 145. 
Greeks, educational system, 23. 
grow, as flower, 363. 
guiltless, 133. 

H 

H, Eve, householder, womb, 346. 

Hall of Learning, 50. 

halo, 330. 

hand, of God, 344; Pope's, 344; right, 

298; sows, 343. 
hands, of Juggler, 81. 
harp, of saints, 226. 
hate, the Lord, 94. 
He, 196; the 2nd, 351. 
Heart, Spiritual, 265; of Grand Man, 

327. 
Hearts, 80. 

heat, of hell, 117; result of, 166. 
heavens, the 7, 247. 
Helen, of Troy, 42. 
Helios, 253. 

hell, burnings of, 343; heat of, 117. 
Hermes, Book of, 291, 347; Candle, 

Lamp of, 307. 
Hermit, 9th card, 333. 
Heth, 296. 

Hiddekel, river, 149-50. 
Hierarchies, 221; 10 Orders of. 348. 
HiRher Self, 55-6; composed of, 262-3; 

diagram of, 109. 
Hippocrates, on birth, 234. 
hive, symbol of, 91. 



Holy Ghost, magnetic force, 129; sin 

against, 53. 
honey, in lion, 331. 
horn, symbol of, 246. 
horses, meaning of, 285; of the sun. 

248, 253. 
Horus, 3rd card, 129. 
Host, the, 80. 
Hottentots, 271. 

hour, 6th, 318; 9th, 311-18; 11th, 318. 
humility, exaggerated, 336. 
Hyades, 211, 267, 271. 



I, as symbol, 71. 

i, the little, 64. 

I am, doctrine of the, xi. 

image, graven, 92. 

immortality, in the flesh, 169: Ego 
and, 262. 

incarnations, major and minor, 357. 

Indian, tepees, 239. 

individuality, 263. 

Initiate, Man the, 340; protector, serp- 
ent, 327, 334; virtues of an, 340. 

Initiation, all ideas of, 333; allego- 
ries of, 315; cvcle of, 323; fee, 291; 
Great, 336; Hall of, 337; in life, 
313; major and minor, 307; number 
of, 306, 327; qualities for, 321; 
sacredness of, 312; Star of, 334, 
363; 2 great tasks, 328. 

Initiator, Saturn as the, 165. 

inspiration, via brain, 372. 

intellect, position of, 260. 

invisibility, 316. 

Ireneus, quoted, 27. 

Iron Age, The, quoted, 302; 70, 272. 

iron, of Mars, 301. 

Isaac, 187. 

Isaiah quoted, 297. 

Isis Unveiled, quoted, 18, 31, 61, 205. 

Island, the Dove, 275. 

Israel, children of, 151. 



Jacob, and sons, 57. 

J akin and Boas, 57. 

Jarvis Letters, The, quoted, 33-4-5-6-7, 
44-8; 58; letter A, 68; belt, 269; eight, 
285-6; letter B, 91; number 9, 322; 
orb, 361; stars, 275; ten, 341; Trin- 
ity, 103; two, 84. 

Jehovah, word for, 358. 

Jesus, in Egypt, 122; name of, 198. 
ews, 48. 
Job, quoted, 174-9; 219; 221; 267; 

273-8; 368. 
John, St., quoted, 86, 156; the Eagle, 

147. 
joy, of completion, 368; not killed, 373; 

to the world, 374. 
Judges, quoted, 331. 
Juggler, The, Chapter 8, 75. 



Index — Continued- 



SSI 



Jupiter, symbol of, 222; Zachariel, 222. 
Justice, attained, 297; 8th card, 301. 

K 

Kabala of Numbers, quoted, 25. 
Kabbalah Unveiled, quoted, 61-2, 70, 

82, 102-7; 120. 
Kahn, the Great, 321. 
Kalahansa, 43. 
Kali Yuga, 70. 
kama, animal soul, 259. 
Karma, burnings of, 343; Lords of, 

101, 143-5-6; 150, 313, wheel of, 362. 
Karttikeya, 274. 
Kerubim, 359. 
Kether, reason, 206. 
key, symbol of, 75; Keeper, 148. 
keys, 97; golden, 223, 248. 
Kilhweh and Alwen, 321. 
kill, only the form, 217; reputation, 

217. 
King Arthur, 321. 
King Desire, 321. 
/ Kings, quoted, 314. 
knighthood, 321. 

Know, to, Cup, 77, 145; Thyself, 336. 
Kshatriyas, 154. 
Kundalini, power, 182, 328. 



Lachesis, 319. 

Lamb, Song of the, 226; horns of the, 

245. 
Lamp of Hermes, 307; of Hermit, 333. 
Land, the Promised, 151. 
Lantern, of Hermit, 333. 
Law, the periodic, 232; 7 manifesta- 
tions of the, 230. 
Leda, and swan, 42. 
Leo, heart of, 137; St. Mark as, 147; 

Teth and, 327,330. 
lepers, the 10, 325. 
letter, Hebrew, Aleph, 68; Beth, 90; 

Daleth, 161; Gimel, 125; He, 186, 

Vau, 211; Zain, 277; Heth, 297; 

Teth, 327; Yod, 356. 
Letters from the Teacher, quoted, 35, 

114. 
letters, awaken potencies, 67; and 

numbers, 131-2; Hebrew, 67; Mother, 

67; script, 64. 
Levi, filiphas, experiences of, 183. 
Levi, Unpublished Letters of tliphas, 

quoted, 69, 91, 200. 
levitation, 179. 
Leviticus, quoted, 174. 
Life, symbol of, 76; cycle begins, 318; 

Fountain of, 344; 3 periods of man's, 

236. 
Life-principle, interfered with, 258; 

prana, 257. 
Life, Tree of, 29. 
Light, result of the, 116. 
lingatn, 281. 



link, between man and woman, 213; 

of iron, 216; Vau a, 212. 
lion, must tame the, 330; symbol of, 

46, 269; with sword, 361. 
liver, the seat of, 259. 
Lives, the Fiery, 235-6. 
locusts, a plague of, 48. 
Lodge, a Mason's, 238. 
Logos, the, 102. 
Love, Banner of, 329. 
Lovers, the, 215. 
Lucifer, 322. 
Luke, St., quoted, 91; as Taurus, 147; 

lepers, 352. 
lyre, of Apollo, 225. 

M 

M, meaning of, 119. 

Macbeth, quoted, 320. 

Macroprosopus, 207. 

magic, number of, 248, 320; of lyre, 

226; reality of, 52. < 
magnetism, number 3 is, 116. 
Maharajas, the 4, 143. 
maid-servant, simile of, 365-6. 
Makara, 178-9. 
Malkuth, 359. 
Man, the Grand, 154; cells in, 303; 

centers in, 222; heart of, 327; In- 
itiate, 340; 7 fold, 231. 
man, offices of, 176; masculine Ray, 

88; work of, 99. _ 
Mantle, of discretion, 334; Hermit, 

333; Nature, 308. 
M'arcosians, number symbolism of, 27, 

288. 
marriage, diagram of, 108-9-10; diver- 
gent, 112; 5 rules, 173; Soul, 84. 
Mars, and blood, 302; Lamb, 226; 

Pleiades, 273; metal of, 301; Raphael, 

222; symbol of, 222; force of, 125. 
Masons, 321-2; Lodge, 238; and 10, 

352. 
Masters, feminine, 273; why cannot 

help, 365. 
mathematics, of sex, 365; exact science, 

17. 
Matrona, 359. 
Matthew, St., quoted, ix, 132, 141, 212, 

313. 
Matthew, St., Aquarius, Man from the 

East, 146. 
May-pole, symbol of, 58. 
Mazzaroth, 273. 
Meaning of the Cross, The, quoted, 

138, 241. 
Mediator, man the, 172, 329. 
M'egaera, 319. 
Melchizedek, 221. 
Melpomene, 319. 

Mental Foundation, The, quoted, 141. 
Mercury, Anail, 222; number of, 172; 

symbol, 222, 361. 
Mercy, number of, 342. 
Mesozoic, age, 369. 



382 



Index — Continued 



Michael, 144, the Sun, 222. 

Microprosopus, 207. 

Midas, King, 227. 

Mighty Living One, The, 307, 328. 

M'ilton, quoted, 322. 

Minatour, the, 252. 

Minas, 252. 

Mind, Divine, 231, 260-1-2-3, Rational, 

260-1; seat of, 265; subconscious, 

259. 
missionaries, Druid, 275-6. 
Mnemosyne, 319. 
Modern Astrology, quoted, 34-5. 
Monad, of Pythagoras, 62. 
Mongolian, doorkeeper, dream of, 290. 
Mark, St., as Leo, 147. 
moon, Gabriel, 222; master of, 233; 

metal of, 317; quarters of, 146; sym- 
bol of, 222. 
mother, Great, 301; idea, 97; principle, 

192. 
mothers, the 3, 119. 
Mount of Ascension, 295. 
Mount of Crucifixion, 295. 
M'undi, Anima, 341. 
Muses.the, 319._ 
Mysteries, Eleusinian, 319. 
mystery, number of, 309. 
Mystic Christ, The, quoted, 195. 
Mystic Thesaurus, quoted, 150, 238, 

325. 
Mystic Oak, The, quoted, 58. 
Music, effect of, 24, designs, 25; 9 and 

319. 
Mythology of the Aryan Nations, 

quoted, 39. 

N 

Naaman, 240. 

Naga, Initiate a, 327. 

name, ineffable, 131; of week days, 
238; to utter a, 130. 

Natural Genesis, quoted, 138. 

Nature, Infinite, 325. 

Neptune, horses of, 150. 

Neschamah, Nephesch, 120. 

Neuberger, Albert, table of, 326. 

Neuvaines, 319. 

New Jerusalem, 142, 161. 

Nichomachus, quoted, 205. 

Nile, 103. 

Nimbus, 330. 

9, number, 306; amulet, 316; dimen- 
sions of cube, 325; Elect of the, 321; 
enehanter, 321; Foundation, 342; 
hour, 311; knocks, 321; master digit, 
322; plagues, 316; sacred, 309; table 
of, 324-6; Tartars, 321; witches, 
320. 

90, number, 355. 

9th, hour, 311; month, 320. 

Niobe, 274. 

Nirmanakaya. 117; body, 176, 

Noah, 121, 240.. 

noon, 309; service, 310, 

notes, 7 musical, 223. 



Novennalia, 319. 

number, of Infinite Nature, 325; evo- 
lution, 285; mystery, silence, 309; 9, 
306; perfection, 236; 7, 219. 

numbers, antiquity of, 20; Arabs, 18; 
birth, 234; Christos, 22; divine reali- 
ties, 18; equality, framework, 23; 
Kabalistic meanings, 342; and let- 
ters, 131; not arbitrary, 25; odd, 
even, 61-2; perversion of, 22; re- 
vealed, 19; Soul of things, 25; spiral 
movement, 324; 

nut, shell and kernel, 101. 

o 

0, meaning of, 35, 285, 322. 
Oak, God, 285. 

oct, octave, 285-6. 
Om, 132. 

Omega, 70, 163, 285. 
Omicron, 285. 

1, number, Chapter 6; Adam Kadmon, 
63; Atma, axis, 65; symbol of _ Cosmic 
Ideation, individuality, indivisibility, 
primordial substance, unity, 62; 
Crown, 342; descent of Light, 1 Life, 
62; dignity, rulership, selfhood, self- 
reliance, Rod, Wand, _ Path, 65; 
gardener, 363; 7 dimensions of, 325. 

1 Life, the, 63. 
oneness, meaning of, 363. 
Ophites, 33. _ 
opposites, pairs of, 83. 
orange, simile of, 286. 
orb, orbit, 361. 
Orifiel, Saturn, 222. 
Orion, myth of, 268. 
Orpheus, myth of, 225. 
Osiris and Nile, 104. 
Ovid, quoted, 267. 
ox, Taurus, 69. 



Paleozoic, age, 369. 

Pan, pipes of, 227. 

pantheism, not, 246. 

Pascal, quoted, 26. 

Path, made straight, 111-13; 7th, 248; 
straight and narrow, 59, 64-6. 

Paths, the 2, 215. 

Paul, St., quoted, 279, 294. 

pentacle, flaming, reversed, 182. 

Pentacles, Keep Silent, 80. 

Perfect W ay, The, quoted, 291. 

personality, boat of the, 28; instru- 
ment, 262-3, 313; left behind, 293; 
opportunities of the, 303. 

I Peter, quoted, 141. 

Phaethon, 253, 348. 

Phannel, 144. 

Pharaoh, Desire, 321; dream of, 240, 

phenomena, psychic, 153. 

Phlegethon, river, 150, 

Phoebus, 348. 



Index — Con tin tied 



383 



Photographing the Invisible, quoted, 

256. 
Phylacteries, 320. 
Perfection, number of, 236; IJrge to, 

196. 
pig, the enchanted, 321. 
pineal gland, 224, 265. 
Pisces, 348. 
Pison, river, 149. 
Plan, the Grand, 104, 303. 
planets, 7 sacred, 222-9; Souls tra- 
verse, 120. 
Plato, 317; method of, 341. 
Pleiades, Chapter 29, 267; center of 

universe, 70, 211, 271; cycles, 273; 

island of, 275; bind influences, 273-6; 

in spring, 270; Mars and, 274; names 

of, 271. 
plexus, solar, 259. 
Plotinus, on 10, 344. _ 
plowshares and pruninghooks, 297. 
Pluto, 203. 
Polarity, Law of, 230; diagram of, 

348-50. 
Pope, Gregory, 138; 5th card, 191. 
portals, the 7, 184, 248. 
power, is, 206. 
prana, 224, 257. 
prayer, efficacy of, 320. 
Priestess, High, 97; of home, 118; 

Pythian. 118. 
Principles, of Man, Atma, 266; Buddhi, 

86, 196, 255; 2nd, astral, 256; 3rd, 

prana, 257; 4th, desire, 258; 5th, 

mind, 260; 6th, The Christ, 265; 7th, 

Divine, 266. 
prison, Soul in, 304. 
procreation, not only, 35. 
Prophet, Priest, King, 176. 
Proserpine, 203. 

Proverbs, quoted, 174, 278, 301. 
Psalms, quoted, 86, 278, 295, 368, 375. 
Psyche and Cupid, 202. 
psychometry, 175. 
purgatory, 320. 
Purification, Feast of, 319. 
pyramids, 274. 
Pythagoras, quoted, 18, 237. 



Q and que, meaning of, 33. 
quarternary, the, 341-2. 
Queen Theodolinde, 138. 

R 

Race, Aryan, Atlantean, Hyperborean, 

Lemurian, the 7 great, 230. 
Races, elements in the, 233. 
radium, center, 266. 
Ram, of Aries, 187. 
Raphael, 144; Mars, 222. 
Rauch, 120. 

Rays, the 7 color, 220-1, 241. 
Realms of the Astral, quoted, 247. 



Reaper, Saturn the, 291. 

rebirth, of planets, 220. 

Records, Akashic, 95. 

Redeemer, man must be a, 108-9; 264. 

Redemption, Law of, 141. 

reduction, occult, 135. 

Regents, the 4, 143-6. 

Regulus, 137. 

Religion of the Ancient Celts, quoted, 
33. 

Religion of the Sikhs, quoted, 180. 

Religion, the Wisdom, accumulation of, 
xii. 

religion, not a sacrifice, 372. 

Revelation, of St. John, quoted, 77, 
106, 122-3, 205, 221, 241-2-4, 351. 

Riley, Life of James (Farmer), quoted, 
53. 

Ring Pass Not, Chapter 4, for indi- 
vidual, 52. 

Rishis, names of the, 271; the 7 great, 
211; wives of the, 273. 

Rivers, of Eden, 149; of nether world, 
150. 

Rivers of Life and Death, quoted, 149, 
150. 

Robe, of my strength, 175; of Initia- 
tion, 176, 307. 

Rock of Ages, the, 141. 

Rod, Aaron's, 333; of iron, 130, 248-9; 
of power, 65, 191; and Staff, 295. 

Romans, quoted, 216. 

roots, life on, 368. 

rope, symbol of a, 322. 

Rose, The Mystic, 307, 359. 

roses, the 9, 321. 

Rota, tarot, 75, 361. 



Sabbath day, 163-8-9. 

Sacrifice, Stone of, 140. 

Saints, Banner over the, 329; the 

144,000, 323. 
salamanders, 204. 
Samael, Venus, 222. 
Samaria, meaning of, 353. 
Samson, and honey, 331. 
sand, like grain of, 350. 
Sanskrit Texts, quoted, 39. 
sardonyx, stone, 317. 
Sarah, 187. 
Sarai, 345. 

Satan, Saturn, 291, 322. 
satisfaction, the only, 108. 
Saturday, 163-8-9. 
Saturn, 165-8; finger, 316; number of, 

291, 306; Orifiel, 222; questions of, 

273; Satan, 291, 322; sinister, 209; 

Time, 236. 
Savior, name of the, 198. 
scarabeus, 43. 
Scepter, symbol of, 76-9; Conqueror's, 

281; of Empress, 129; of Venus, 161; 

of Zain, 277. 



384 



Index — Co n tinned 



Scorpio, Eagle, 129; extended arms, 
253, 348; heart of, 137; St. John as, 
147. 

Sculptor, the Master, 340. 

Sea, the Red, 321. 

Seal of Solomon, 113, 251, 324. 

seasons, the 4, 145-6. 

Secret Doctrine, The, quoted, 17-8-9, 
20-1-3-5-7-9, 32-3-9, 40-1-2-3-4-5-9, 54- 
5, 70, 131-9, 143, 170-8, 202, 219, 
221-4-6, 231-3-4-7-9, 241-8-9, 251-5, 
262-3, 271-3-4, 316, 323, 330-9, 341-5- 
7-8, 352-3. 

Senary, the, 249. 

Sephira, 1st, 62; 2nd, 84; 3rd, 120, 
201; 6th, 207; 7th, 251; 9th, 307; 
10th, 348, 359. 

Sepher Yetzirah, quoted, xiii, 62, 102, 
115-9, 186, 211-19, 247, 277, 297, 
306, 327, 339, 345, 356, 

serpent, symbol of, Chapter 2; All Wis- 
dom, Brazen, Creative Cause, 32; 
Druid symbol, 33; 322; horned, 33; 
immortality, 30; power, 328; 7 
headed, 253; stone, 33; swallowing 
tail, 306; Teth, 327; why used, 31-2, 
327; Zagrens, 32. 

7, number, Chapter 24, 219; among 
Egyptians, 234; aspects of the Law, 
230 ; Creation, Gestation, 219, 229; 
divisions of the body, 229; Hebrew 
•word for, 236; in Bible, 240-1; in 
chemistry, 233; manifestation, 229; 
number, 219; Perfection, 219; plan- 
ets, 229; Pleiades and, 273; priests, 
239; sacred to Clio, 228; veils, 99; 
Victory, 342. 

7, Churches, The, quoted, 242. 

70, number, 353. 

sex, in Soul, 349. 

sex-force, adulteration of, 282-3; factor 
in evolution, 30; Key to the Law of, 
87; _ man's perversion of, 34; mathe- 
matical basis of, 84, 173; spiritual 
nature of, 32-4-5; use of, 34. 

Shem, Ham and Japheth, 121. 

Shepherd's Crook, 79. 

Shield of David, 205. 

sickness, a process of, 258. 

Siddhis center, 329. 

signs, cardinal, 143-8; only 10, 348. 

Sikhs, 180. 

Silence, must enter the, 168; number 
of the, 309, 312; Temple of, 310-11. 

Silent, to Keep, 80, 145. 

silver, 317. 

sin, cause of, 183. 

Sirius, dog, 268-9. 

Sisyphus, 271. 

Siva, 206. 

6, days of labor, 162-3; animating 
Principle, 197; among Gnostics, 197; 
Beauty, 342; Dwelling of the Great, 



209; Great Work, Labor, Toil, 199; 
in Greek and Latin, 212; number of 
Christ-force, Incompleteness, Unrest, 
Urge to Perfection, 195; number of 
Nature, 205. 

Sixth Angel, The, quoted, 150, 205. 

6th, sub-race, 198. 

60, number, 353. 

Song of Solomon, quoted, 330. 

songs, vibrations of, 86. 

Source of Measures, The, quoted, 19. 

soul, the animal, 258-9. 

Soul, breaths, 302; causal, 55-6; dia- 

fram of, 264; a reservoir, 349; the 
piritual, 265-6. 

Spades, 78. 

speech, power of, 186, 288. 

sphere, the 8th, 288-9. 

spheres, concentric, 49; music of tha 
224, 319. 

Sphinx, 361. 

sphinxes, 281. 

spirals, of evolution, 105. 

Spirits, the 7, 242. 

Splendor, number of, 342. 

square, aspect, 137; circumscribed, 142; 
generated by, 137; magic, 325; ratio 
to diagonal, 86. 

SRI, 346. 

Staff, of Hermit, 333; Patriarchs, 77; 
Wisdom, 79, 307. 

star, dark, 288; 5 pointed, 181; mean- 
ing of, 275; Pole, 149; of Initiation, 
334, 364; of Platonic Philosophy, 
281; 7 pointed, 249; 6 pointed, 205. 

stars, double system of, 272; form 
cosmic cross, 137; streams of, 104; 
the 7, 246. 

steal, thoushalt not, 302. 

steam, simile of escaping, 258. 

steel, turning iron into, 301. 

Stone, the Foundation, 137; completed, 
258; a Soul choice, 141, 161, 201; 
of Nature, 369; Philosopher's, 281; 
serpent's, 33; The Two Tables of, 
362. 

streak, the primitive, 65, 340. 

Styx, the river, 150. 

sub-conscious mind, 259, 260-1. 

subtil and subtle, 31. 

Sudras, 154. 

suffering, not meritorious, 371. 

sun, horses of the, 248, 253; Michael, 
222; symbol of the, 222, 322. 

Sunday, 164. 

supply, in aura, 365. 

system, decimal, 21; primitive with ad- 
vanced, 20. 

Swan, 42-3. 

Swastika, 138. 

Sword, of Justice, 302; Orion's, 269; 
symbol of the, 78; Zain, 277. 

Sylphs, the, 204. 

symbols, perversion of, 21. 



index — Continued 



385 



talismans. 316-17. 

Talleth, 320. 

tap-root, 1 the, 65. 

Tarot, The, quoted, xiv, 82. 

Tarot, cards, 1st, Juggler, 75; 2nd, 
Priestess, 97; 3rd, Empress, 129; 4th, 
Emperor, 161; 5th, Pope, 191; 6th, 
Lovers, 215; 7th, Chariot, 281; 8th, 
Justice, 301; 9th, Hermit, 333; 10th, 
Wheel of Life, 361. 

Tartars, 321. 

Tau, Egyptian, 138-9. 

Taurus, sign, Aleph, 69; decans of, 
252; eye of, 137, 211; Minatour and, 
252; ruled by, 69; St. Luke and, 
147; 6th card, 215; symbolizes, 69; 
thunder God, 275; unfortunate, 212. 

teachers, disappointment with, x. 

Temple, meaning of, 322; of Isis, 98. 

tempter, personal, 260. 

10, number, Chapter 37, 339; among 
Egyptians, 347; as Avatar, 357-8; 
contains whole evolution, 21; mean- 
ing of, 341; number of Completion, 
341; Cosmos, Kingdom, Uni- 
verse, 21; Sun, 342; phallic, 345; 
Light, 353; reckoning by, 21; Wheel, 
361; Yod, 345. 

tepees, Indian, 239. 

Tennyson, quoted, 78. 

Terpsichore, 319. 

tests, do not invoke, 294; of Initiation, 
314-15. 

Teth, a roof, 328-9; letter, 327. 

Tetraktys, the, 345. 

Thalia, 319. 

Thebes, 7 gates of, 239. 

Themis, 41. 

Theseus, 252. 

30, number, 353. 

Thor, hammer of, 139. 

thought-forms, 284. 

3, number, Chapter 11, 103; Com- 
forter, Revealer, 116; Deity, mean- 
ing of, Mystery of Life, Time, Di- 
vine Love, 106; Trinity, 103; Flame, 
Word, 115; Understanding, 342. 

3%, number,_ 122. 

Three Days in the Tomb, quoted, 121. 

throne, and saints, 226; Great White, 
242; of Deity, 250. 

Tien, as egg, 40. 

Tiara, 97. 

Tiger, the White, 254. 

Time, number of, 285. 

Tipherith, 207. 

Tisiphone, 319. 

Tmolus, 227. 

tongue the, 298. 

Towers, Round of Ireland, 37. 

Transcendental Magic, quoted, 75-7, 
115, 145-8-9, 181, 195, 206, 239, 248, 
308-9. 



triangle, 102-6; Divine, 260; Dot in, 
250; interlaced, 205-8; reflected, 135, 
209. 

Trinity, 102; Kabalistic, 120, 132; in 
star systems, 104; Table of, 136; 
the Divine, 206. 

triplicities, astrological, 105-6. 

tripod, use of, 118. 

Trismegistus, Lamp of, 308. 

trunk, symbol of boy's, 51. 

Truth, shutting eyes to, 337. 

12, number; God theogony, origin of 
the inch, 21. 

20, number, 353. 

2, number, Chapter 9, 82; Adam and 
Eve, 84; Audacity, Duality, Polar- 
ity, Separation, 82; Binary, Buddhi, 
86; Contrasts, marriage, pairs of op- 
posites, 83; meaning of, 84, 103; ra- 
diance, 100; Wisdom, 342. 

Typhon, 271, 362. 

u 

Understanding, number of, 342. 
Undines, the, 204. 
Unity, not uniformity, 63. 
Unpublished Letters of tliphas Levi, 

quoted, 69, 91, 200. 
unrest, days of, ix. 
Urania, 319. 

Urge to Perfection, 196. 
Urim and Thummim, 281. 



Vaishyas, 154. 

Vau, a link, 212; an eye, 211; symbol 

of, 216. 
Veil, of Isis, 99; of Protection, 329, 

330; rent, 318. 
Venus, 41; bees from, 202; dual planet 

215; rules Taurus, 69; Samael, 222 

Scepter of, 161; symbol of, 222, 361 

Urania, 130. 
Victory, number of, 342; of 7, 278. 
vina, the Hindu, 224-5. 
Vishnu, sign of, 205; wife of, 346. 
virtues, the 7, 222. 
Voice, Army of the, 24, 131-3. 
voice, tones of the, 228. 
Voice of Isis, The, quoted, 25-7; 30, 49, 

50-2-3, 60-1-3-7, 71-2, 83-4, 98-9, 165, 

217, 220-3, 230, 241-2-6, 260, 278, 

306-8, 310-14, 322, 356, 362. 
Voice of the Silence, The, quoted, 184, 

223, 236, 279, 285-7, 301, 313, 328, 

334, 368. 

w 

Wall, form a guardian, 341. 

Wand, of Moses, 180; the magic, 65, 

281, 333; to Do, 79, 80. 
Warrior, the Black, 254. 
watches, of night, 318. 
Weapon, 296; lay down, 331. 



386 



index — Continued 



wealth, acquiring vs. creating, 22. 

Wescott, quoted, 173, 239. 

Wheel, of Karma, 362; of the Law, 

287; of Life, 361. 
wheels, 8 spoked, 322. 
Whipple, Edward, quoted, 170. 
whiskey, use by mediums, 53. 
wilderness, 40 days in, 152; 40 years 

in, 151. 
Will, the, 206. 
wind, Breath of Spirit, 28. 
window, He a, 187. 
Winds, the 4, 143-4-5-6. 
Wisdom, number of, 342; 9th letter, 

331; Serpent of, 327; 7 Dragons of, 

254. 
witness, bearing false, 335. 
witnesses, the 2, 106. 
woman, a chattel, 97; clothed with sun, 

122-3; feminine Ray, 88; functions 

of, 233; mission of, 100; Scarlet, 77; 

woman's place, 98-9. 



womb, double, 345; H is a, 346; num- 
ber of, 196. 

Word, the, 131; a light, 333; every 
idle, 132; invokes a potency, 132. 

words, 5 sacred, 175; judged by our, 
313. ■ 

World-chain, 229. 

Y 

Yang and Yin, 61. 

year, the sidereal, 323. 

Yod, meaning of, 356; number of, 345. 

Yod-He-Vau-He, 358. 



Zachariel, Jupiter, 222. 

Zain, Chapter 30, 277. 

Zama, zama, 175. 

zero, absolute, 115; a circle, 353. 

zodiac, like switchboard, 67; 10 sign9 

n in, 347. 

Zohar, The, quoted, 55; Light, 351. 



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Interprets the numbers, cards and letters from 
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Why is 13 considered unlucky? Its real occult 
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The Number 15. Is it the Devil? Why the 
numerical name of The Order of Christian Mystics? 

The Mystery Number of the Sun, and its signifi- 
cance. 

The Divine Number. 

The meaning of the higher Hebrew Letters. 

The meaning of the higher Tarot Cards, etc. 

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By the Same Authors 

THE VOICE OF ISIS 

A Comprehensive Text-Book of 

Christian Mysticism, Esoteric Bible Interpretation and Occult Philosophy 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. Life's Duties. 
II. The Cycle of Fulfillment. 
The European war fore- 
shadowed and causes 
given two years before 
it began. 

III. Degrees and Orders. 

IV. The Wisdom Religion. 
The Doctrine of Hell 

Fire. 

The Eleventh Command- 
ment. 

Narcotics, Alcohol and 
Psychism. 

A Study of Karma. 

The Self. 

The Doctrine of Ava- 
tara. A clear explana- 
tion of the laws under 
which The Christ may- 
be expected to mani- 
fest. 

A Study of Reincarna- 
tion. 

The Seven Powers of 
Man. 

A Brief Outline of Evo- 
lution. 

The Seven-Fold Law. 

The Formation of World 
Chains. 



V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 



XI. 
XII. 



XIII. 



XIV. 

XV. 



CHAPTER 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 



XIX. 
XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 
XXIII. 
XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 
XXVII. 

XXVIII. 



XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 



XXXIII. 
XXXIV. 



Purity. 

The Origin of Man. 

The Symbol of the Ser- 
pent. 

Purification vs. Deifica- 
tion. 

The Memory of Past 
Lives. 

The Cycle of Necessity. 

The Path of Attainment. 

Earth's Finer Forces. 

The Descent of the 
Light. 

The Two Tables of 
Stone. 

The Healing Prayer. 

How to Enter the 
Silence. 

Nature's Mystic Alpha- 
bet. A study of the re- 
lation of sound, num- 
ber, color and form. 

The Word Made Flesh. 

Illumination. 

The Symbol of the Salt. 

Thou Shalt Not Kill. 
The Law regarding 
the use of flesh for 
food. 

Prayer of Consecration. 
Concentration Hours. 

The Meaning of the 
Symbol of the Order. 



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